A Dance of Bravery
by 33LoLillie-Chan33
Summary: When Sakura's crippled father is recruited for war, she fears for his life and disguises herself to takes his place. But will her fear and dislike of men be noticeable in a camp full of men? Adopted by JasmineDragon22
1. The Incident: Cause and Effect

Title : Dancing Amongst The Warriors

Summary : Sakura's crippled father has been called to join the war. Fearing that this path may lead to his death, she takes his place.**  
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Note to everybody.

I am making this so that it is sort of a combination of Chinese and Japanese. Instead of shinobi they will be called the Shensi Warriors and they are located within the land of Fire, which will be known as the land of Huo in this fanfiction. Everything else is kept pretty much the same.

Oh and,

Genin: Sanhao

Chuunin:Erhao

Jounin:Yihao

Special Jounin: Te Yihao

Anbu: MinZao

Shinobi: FeiZha

Kunoichi: ZhaNu

Medic-nin (on the field) (unisex) -MinBao - highly trained medic nin. - tsunade

If the medic is not tsunade, use of chakra to execute medical techniques is called Erminbao. Or SanMinBao.

Healers (an exception because they do not go on field and some of the women are allowed to learn the technique. Lol in case you haven't noticed its a male world here.) - MinWu

People with only chakra / energy no speed or knowledge of martial art or destructive usage of chakra/energy) - Baowu (unisex)

id like to note that even civilians have chakra. It's more like they all have a life force but only those who know how to separate the usable part are shensi warriors cause it's handed down in the family and stuff. Everything is similar to the real Naruto like with medic Jin you have to have a certain level of control or you can only use low level techniques. Yeah. Just ask questions if curious and ill try to rectify it.

Anything I missed out?

Okay! I hope that you all will like this story. Hahaha. It's a spinoff from Mulan. :D cheers everybody.

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_SMASH!_

_That was mama's favorite vase._

_"Come out come out wherever you are..." _

_STREECCKKK!_

_And those were the sheets mama had embroidered herself._

_"You can't hide forever little girl..."_

_CRASHH!_

_And... That was the beautiful tea set Sakura had saved up for to give mama on her birthday._

_"Now, tell me where your papa has hidden my things..."_

_Sakura could only bath in her own fear. She stared at this strange man's shadowy movements from behind the wooden panels, hoping the dark shadows would hide her existence._

_It had been mere minutes ago when Sakura returned home with her nursemaid Lao to prepare for bed as it had become late and mama and papa were too busy discussing 'things' with an old man with white hair._

_Sakura pouted. Even mama hadn't come back with her.. _

_And then her nursemaid screamed. _

_There.. On the floors past the main gates lay blood. And the headless body of a female. Sakura stared... So much in shock that she didn't know what she was supposed to feel. But when Lao pushed her away, yelling at her to run, she knew better than to disobey. For there, in front of Lao's frail form stood three men with frightening smiles that pushed Sakura to run as fast as she could. She ran as fast as her little six year old feet could take her. Passed the rooms with torn rice paper doors, passed a corridor that seemed overrun with a liquid that she didn't want to think about and passed the destroyed meeting room she had often sat in._

_She ran till she reached mama and papa's room. Her feet led her across the wooden floorboards until she reached wooden storage walls that mama used to keep her clothing. They were created so that mama would be able to hang her clothing inside without worrying about dust or the hassle of folding elaborate garments. It was at the end of the room and was similar to a wooden wall except that it had even vertical spaces. This 'wall' was created seven paces from the back of a stonewall and, instead of just one wall, it was rather like two walls that had about a foot of space between them and about three feet of space from each side of the room. A thick metal bar connected the two walls at the starting point of the inner wall to the outer wall thus creating an almost zigzag shape. _

_Mama had explained to her once that she made sure her wardrobe was like this so that anyone who wanted to steal her gold threaded kimonos would not get very far unless the wardrobe was opened._

_Sakura wormed her way past the walls, under the thick metal bar and passed the lovely clothes. When she reached the back of the wardrobe she pressed herself behind a wooden panel used for her mothers changing. Would he see her?_

_And now, he was walking to the wooden barred walls. Perhaps she would be safe? How would he be able to cross them? They were as high as the room itself. Apparently, he had other plans. He produced some sort of weapon. Larger than twice is head and glinted in the moonlight. With a heaving gasp, he smashed the now glowing weapon into edge wooden bars. A maniacal smile when the walls on that side collapsed. _

_The man sniffed the air. Aaah.. The scent of a cowering young child. Better yet, it was female. He would enjoy his revenge on that stinking Haruno. That pathetic man who stole his dear Kiyari... Who took the Jewel scrolls he had inherited.. Who had tried to kill him... He smirked. One side of his gruesome face showing more teeth than the other. Did she really think she could hide from him? Foolish child. Her frightened energy was as bright as the daylight, he had merely been toying with her earlier._

_Sakura could barely breathe as she watched him advance towards her. She thought she was safe, and that he would not notice her, until he crouched and smirked as their eyes met. "Found you."_

_And he tore the wooden panels away with his bare fist._

_Sakura looked up at him in terror. She didn't like this. Not one bit. This was the kind of man used in the tales mama had told her. Tales of men who preyed on little girls... Men who were never found... Only known through the bodies of the blue lipped girls who were left in the woods with their skirts torn and blood on their legs. But she couldn't move. She just stared on helplessly as he grabbed her hair by the fistful and dragged her out of the room. She threw her little fists against him, trying to get free. She shrieked and yelled and prayed and begged to be let go and still he would not._

_When she grabbed an ornamental dagger to stab him he merely swung his mace at her. Forcing the dagger out of her hands and deep bloody gouges into them. Sakura just stared at her hands in shock. Not once had she ever been hurt. Not once had she seen her own blood. And then the pain came. Hot and sharp it travelled her hands and wrist. For what seemed like eternity, the blood ran and she could only cry while holding her hands together. She didn't see where she was going, staying absent to the world until her hazy mind snapped to attention upon hearing a male voice._

_"So the boss caught a cutie eh?" _

_She stared. Two other men in the tea room. One with silver hair the other with brown. So the man who found her was the 'boss'. And then it sunk in. What were they going to do to her? She started screaming again trying to get free._

_KA-THWACK!_

_She fell head first onto the floor. _

_"Break her hands and feet. Don't want her getting away. And untie that thing of hers."_

_She just stared up at him in horror. No... He wouldn't.. He wouldn't... He... He..._

_Her lips opened up in a silent scream. It was fire burning up her arms and legs, unrelenting and merciless. Without realizing it, her mind was forcing her body to push out chakra as a plea for help. And then she fainted. Consumed by a black abyss that calmed her and took away the pain._

_Sakura opened her eyes and took in the pure darkness around her. She treaded the airy space. It was as if she was suspended in mid-air._

_"Hello? Is anybody there?" Her voice echoed around the seemingly never ending dark._

_'Hey there ME!"_

_Sakura reeled back in shock. A huge white something that looked like her was right in front of her, only she was at least a few hundred times her size._

_'I am not! I just happened to be a bit bigger because I own this whole place duhhhh!'_

_Just who was this crazy person? Looking like her and talking NOT like her. _

_'I am you!'_

_Apparently, she could read minds as well. _

_'*Sigh* you are in your mind... I am you.. Like.. Your split personality or something. Get it? Think of it as being possessed... Or something like that...'_

_POSSESSED!?_

_'Ouucchhh!' The white figure like thing covered her ears. 'Don't talk so loud!'_

_Er... Sorry? _

_'Much better. Now, I'll talk to you some other time. Meanwhile, you need to worry about keeping your clothes on.'_

_"Huh? Wait... I still have questio-_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_Sakura opened her eyes. So it had __happened? Some kind of odd dream world phenomenon. And then she remembered what that... Er.. Girl - **ME**! _

_What? So she was in her head now? NOOO! She didn't want to be crazy!_

_**Shut up! You aren't crazy. Maybe just stupid..**_

_So not!_

_**So the little girl has some sass eh? **_

_What's that supposed to mean?_

_**Nothing... I'm just glad you aren't a complete goody-do-good-whatever-you-say-mom-girl.**_

_I am NOT!_

_**Hey! Noise level control! What am I supposed to think? All you ever say is yes mom... Of course mom... Whatever you say mom...**_

_Okay.. I get it... So what are you anyway?_

_**Funny how you get more out spoken when you talk with me eh?**_

_Huh? I-I am not... I - I just..._

_**Yeah yeah. Anyway, like I said. I am you. I'm just the part of you that actually admits that she hates wearing dresses!**_

_B-but... I.. Um.. _

_**So stand up for once my Kami-sama! And say you don't like it.. **_

_I.._

_**And since you're awake can you take care of that ****ed up bastard who is taking of your clothes?**_

_Eh? What had those... Those slurred bits of words she had said... _

_And then it hit her. Taking of my clothes!?_

_She broke out of the trance she had been in and realized that, yes, indeed, her clothes were gone. All that was left was the under layers of her kimono and her underwear._

_"So the little girl wakes up eh?"_

_That voice had come from behind her. His breath was hot against his ear and -sshluckk- Ew! He had just licked her ear! His tongue felt slimy and disgusting and HIS HANDS WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE!_

_"KIIYYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! LET ME GO! LET ME GO! STOP TOUCHING ME!"_

_"Oh I will do more than that little girl. Much more than that..."_

_"It's pretteh 'mazing thad theh boss h'ain't tak'n 'er cloths arll off eh?"_

_"Get that tooth fixed up Kuzo. Can barely hear what you're saying."_

_"'Ah said thad 'ah thogh't boss was gon'ta haf 'er wih, ya know wha t'aim sayenng?" He said while making obscene gestures._

_"Oh.. Yes yes. You are quite right. He is well known for all those ahem, 'blue-lipped girls'."_

_"Thas rait Thehgoji! Boss'es a plehtg'ofshile eh?"_

_"The names Fukoji you idiot, and it's pronounced. Paedophile. Peh- Dou- File!"_

_Sakura's eyes widened... she may be young, but she was quite known for loving the library... And right now she wished she didn't!_

_"So the little sweetie knows my name eh?" His hands moved down south._

_At this point she was so subdued by her nerves that she had already forgotten about her inner Sakura who would probably have given her some good advice. _

_"You like it don't you? You do? Oh dear.. I can't reach you well enough though...hmm.."_

_She just stayed still. Not knowing what he was going to do next._

_"This should do it!" And he tore of her beautiful silk under layer. Sakura continued to stay still. She felt so strange... This was something else. It wasn't like when she dreamed of a monster coming to steal her soul. Or like that time when it had been dark and she thought she had seen a big black figure. This.. Was unknown. So unknown and scary and she didn't know what to do. _

_She had never known what had actually happened to the girls in the woods, or why they had blood on their legs and only their legs. She had always wondered what had happened because mama never told her. She only knew it was bad. But know, she thought she was going to find out in the worst way possible. _

_By experiencing it herself. _

_His hands were on her bare thighs. _

_Oh no.. oh no she... She... What was she going to do.., what.. Oh no.. Oh no... _

_**Scream you idiot! Scream and kick and just do WHATEVER YOU CAN!**_

_B-But.. He.._

_**JUST BLOODY MOVE ALREADY!**_

_Inner's loud voice jolted her into action. She began screaming and kicking like a madwoman, or in this case, girl._

_"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! OTOU-SAAAAAAAAAAAAN! OKAA-SAAAAAAAAN!" She screamed as loudly as she could. Her high-pitched voice causing the 'boss' to wince._

_"Shut the hell up!" He backhanded her, slamming her head against the wooden floor._

_"Ugh.." No.. She couldn't give up now.. "LET ME GO!"_

_"You little bitch..." He growled and turned her around whilst pressing her face down onto the floor, scraping the sensitive skin. He grabbed a blade and pressed it threateningly against her back. "You still want to disobey me? Hmm?"_

_She stiffened. "Please.. D-don't... Don't... Yamete..."_

_"Pity.. All this lovely skin.." He traced patterns onto her back "Is going to be marred.." He smirked._

_All Sakura got out was an "Eh?" Before he started slashing her back. They were long but shallow and weren't deep enough for her body to go into shock._

_She tried to bare with it. Biting her lips. At the same time, she cold feel it ebbing away. _

_Inner?_

_**Heya sweets. I'll be helping you out kay? Hang in there... It'll just take a minute..**_

_Okay.._

_Seeing as she wasn't giving him much of a reaction, he pursed his lips and stabbed her hard with the inch long blade, and dragged it slowly down the side of her back._

_Sakura's eyes bulged out. She didn't scream. Or whimper. But it didn't stop the tears from escaping her eyes. Strangely enough, she couldn't feel the pain yet..._

_"Hnngh!" She spoke too soon. This was worse than her broken limbs... Worse than the wounds on the backs of her hands.. Worse than the backhand she had been given.. She couldn't keep quiet. She longed to scream and let the pain out._

_**Shush! Don't give him the satisfaction of hearing your pain.**_

_The blade twisted._

_And still she was quiet. Blood on her lips from being bitten so hard. She could feel something warm coiling around her. Helping her some more to keep the worst of it at bay._

_Fire coursed up and down and around her back. _

_The fire reached her hips._

_And then everything stopped. The snickering of the two other men. The movements of the blade. _

_Had the heavens sent down an angel for her?_

_"Step away from my daughter."_

_No, even better. They sent her father. _

_"Well now, isn't this a surprise... The stinking Haruno is back early..."_

_"Izanagi! Why did you hurt her!?"_

_Mama was here!_

_"My dear Kiyara.. I remember when you used to call me Dokiru-kun.. What a shame..."_

_"You were the one who tried to kill my father.. You were the one who was dishonorable."_

_"Yara-chan, stop conversing with filth. It is not becoming."_

_"Of course. Gomen Kyodu-kun.."_

_Sakura could recognize the teasing lilt of her mother's voice._

_"Enough talk.. Unless of course you want to prolong dear Sakura's suffering.."_

_Everything happened incredibly fast. One moment the man had been taunting her father, which no man should ever be stupid enough to do.. Considering he used to be the head of the MinZao. And then the next moment he and his two 'friends' were against the wall of the house with steel wires around them._

_"Hmmph! Barely an Erhao and he tries to fight with me."_

_"Sakura-chan!" Her mother rushed over to her and healed her. Her mother was no MinWu but she had a well enough control over her chakra to be able to separate it and partially heal her daughter._

_Sakura smiled. She was safe. And she was tired._

_As she fell asleep, the last thought on her mind was, "I will never be helpless again."_

* * *

"Haa..haa... One more lap.."

"Add ten to whatever you are doing Sakura."

"Guh.. O-kayh.."

"And once you are finished add another two stones to each of your limbs."

"Agh.."

It had been ten years since the incident and Sakura had blossomed into a beautiful, if not rather brash young lady. She disliked and no longer wore ankle length kimonos and had a rather unhealthy dislike and fear for most things male that had a remotely prickly disposition.

Contrary to her mother's speculation of her dislike of skirts, it wasn't entirely because she had the experience of it being ripped off, it was more like, Sakura could not train in her kimonos and found them a hassle. But she could not be bothered to tell her mother that. And as to her dislike for males.. Well she thought them a selfish lot that only wanted three things in life. "Money. Power. Sex." Almost becoming a blue-lipped girl when she was young was not much help either.

She had found out about two years back that she did not mind chatting with the occasional rare male, and neither did she mind their bodies too much, but the moment one of them got anywhere closer to her than three feet he would be flying out of the village gates. Every male in the village knew not to get too close to her.

As for women, a few off them did make good friends, but they were far too concentrated on powdering their faces and marrying a Hyuuga or an Uchiha or one of those males in the martial clans anyway...

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"Finished!"

"Go and do five hundred sets of lifting that rock."

"It's twice my height father!"

"The problem?"

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"Nothing.."

The Haruno Male had become crippled after an attack about a month after the incident and had retired. But he had no qualms with teaching Sakura the ways of the Shensi warriors when she had asked him to.

Her honored father was one if the few that were NOT intent on marrying her off or telling her to watch her mouth and stay in her 'place'. He was however, adamant that she train until she couldn't move anymore.

They had started off small, a rock that weighed a mere stone and weights for each of her limbs about half a stone each. She was to run forty laps a day and do a hundred press-ups and after that they would spend the next half-day learning different types of martial arts. Although her father could not leap and jump as he used to, he could still smack her arms with the cane if they were too low or high, and would, quite literally smack her into position.

The next day she would train in the morning and would spend the afternoon learning how to separate her chakra from her life-force. Today was one such day.

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"Sakura, breathe in and out. Focus on your energy, feel it move within you. Now, give me a water-dragon!"

She breathed in, listening to the energy that coursed through her.. Like music flowing in the wind.

"And don't you dare say its name!"

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Sakura had showed a high potential in the control of her chakra. Being able to unstick it from her life force the first try and was able to send it to all parts of her body on the second try. It was a well known fact that the best of the Shensi had no need to speak out their techniques, although they tended to use overly-exaggerated movements or at times would use a hand sign. Sakura had control that was good enough that she had no need for any of the three.

She was quite adept at almost all the elements. The only one that needed a handsign was fire. This was because in order to make fire, one needed to have control both the inside and outer energies. Pushing it together to create a hot friction that would spark a fire. In the beginning, she had needed to be in a Snake stance -a foot in front and one stretched to the back holding equal weight and her hands would be in the tiger sign,- and could only do a fire ball through the mouth. Not able enough to only hold a hand sign on one hand and create a fireball with the other or she would have to concentrate her chakra into her words while imagining the tiger sign and then using both hands in a ridiculous motion to create fire. And even then at that time she had needed to be in a snake stance. How far she had come that all she needed was a single handed sign or a murmur of the words.

She had started her Shensi training a month after the incident and had started the training of her energies at the age of eight. Now it was merely the necessity of being able to fight while using the elements. Of course, she could do other things. Like running up a tree for hours, standing upside down with only her fingers and sparing with her father's chakra string controlled puppet on water.

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"Sakura, I only told you to stop the bleeding. Not grow it a new wing from that cut..."

"Sorry... I couldn't help it.. I just wanted to try out this technique.."

"Where did you even get it from? All I ever taught you was how to stop bleeding and how to regenerate the skin, not how to regrow a bone and blood and nerves and every other miniscule thing in there! How did you even know how to regrow feathers?"

" It was this scroll that Tsunade-sama gave me!"

"That matchmaker?"

"She is also a renowned healer..."

"Hiss..."

"And keep that snake!"

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The snake was one of her other pets. She had healed her a few years ago when she was just learning how to heal skin. It hadn't been easy and she hadn't told her father but she had tried to duplicate its cells. And she had failed resulting in a ridiculously long snake that also had her chakra in it, and believe it or not, could make itself bigger or smaller. It's typical size was about half her height and it was often wrapped around her upper-arm. It had stuck with her and she had named it Kigechu.

Often, just to shock her mother, her snake would jump out during dinner, grab a bite of everyones fish and jump back in. This often resulted in her mother looking very annoyed, but she said nothing as the snakes venom, she had found out once while bathing with her, was very good for the skin. But then she realized that this only applied to her. The poor maid who had tried getting the venom from the water for herself had gotten a few alarming rashes and had nearly suffocated from the foam in her mouth.

Her only other pet was a lovely stallion that had more muscle than a tiger And a coat of fur so dark he blended into the night. Strangely enough, his snout was white and had a few black lines on it. She had taken to calling him Yoru. He had a dislike of snakes too, and had nearly trampled on dear Kigechu once. They were sort of best friends now. Sort of.

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"Sakura stop rolling up your hakama!"

"And put your hippori back on! I don't care how hot you feel!"

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But the one thing he disliked having Sakura do was expose a single part of her body. Perhaps it was because of the incident or perhaps it was merely because women were not supposed to expose a part of their body anyway.

Sakura's training attire consisted of a pair of steel ended bindings that made for easy access. To her at least. Not for her mother. A meshed lined short sleeved part steel top went over her bindings. The hakama she wore was an adaptation. There were steel ends on the sides and the ties ended up somewhere at her waist.

The pant legs were a much narrower cut and had ties threaded in at the bottom for when she trained and decided to tie it up when she got hot, of course, her father yelled at her for this. On top of this she wore a cropped hippori that had a thick tie that went in the opposite way at the bottom and had narrow sleeves.

At home, when she was not training, she kept her mesh top and bindings on along with the hakama. But over it, she wore a thin connected sleeved kimono that had slits up the sides of it. However, unlike the typical kimono, it tied the way a traditional hippori would. The hakama was a shade of true black and her kimono was a dark green while the band on it to tie was a flowery black and gold pattern.

When she went out, she would be forced to tie portions of her hair into little braids and patterns and she found it thoroughly annoying. She also had to wear a, what was in her opinion flashy light peach and gold ko-uchigi on top of it that she found horribly troublesome. Not to mention hot.

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"The dinner that you made tonight was very well done Sakura. As is the Kosode and Samue that you have sewn together. However, your weaving skills require some work, and so do your embroidery skills."

"Mum..."

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Sakura had had a busy childhood. While training in the Art of the Shensi, she had also been learning the ways of a woman. What frustrated her mother to no one though, was the fact that she had calloused hands and scars on her body. She had also deemed any nobleman her mother had tried to set her up with as a "chauvinistic, power-hungry, and so bloody full of air it's amazing they can live on the same land."

Her mother wished she knew where Sakura had gotten words like these. She also wished she knew why Sakura did not enjoy being in the company of the other girls.

She recalled Sakura saying "The Yamanaka girl is forever sticking her chest out against the Watanabe just to compare. They forever primp in front of an ornate mirror they can barely hold, and all they speak of are which men to marry! How boring a life is that!?" Kiyara sighed and shook her head.

And Sakura disliked being a noble herself! The only thing she appreciated about it was most likely the cleaning of the house and the fact that she did not need to darn her clothing on her own.

It was still her duty to make food for her father and mother, and when she had a husband it would most likely be her duty to create food for her family as well, how was her n straightforward brash darling survive? Her mother had always had the duty of cleaning the main family rooms, serving food for honored guests and darning the clothing for her main family as well so Sakura had had no practice. Not to mention her father took her side far too often in matters like this.

Sakura did have a friend that she liked. Hyuuga Hinata. While Sakura deemed men as pigs, she had no problems with admiring their physiques, and Hinata was a big help with that. She would often sit with Hinata and discuss the Uzumaki prankster and which cousins of hers had the most defined bodies.

Every now and then, the Hyuuga Neji would spar with Uchiha Sasuke and Sakura would happily stare at their sweaty, streamlined, muscled bodies discretely with her gilded and embellished mirror, courtesy of her mother. Poor Hinata would be beside her blushing heavily.

But once, just once, she had met the eldest son of the Uchiha clan. And she had been rather annoyed to say that she was not annoyed by him at all. Nothing about him spoke of arrogance or cockiness. Instead, he merely seemed confident and had n ignored the simpering females of the Hyuuga house with an ease she found she liked.

The Hyuuga boy and the younger Uchiha did the same, however, they were rather fond of being cocky and would quite often mutter degrading words about her and Hinata. Nothing too bad.. Things like, "why do they watch? Not like they can learn anything.." Or " Weak females." And occasionally, the Hyuuga boy wound look at Hinata and say "Can't even master the gentle fist when they should be grateful they are allowed to," Sakura presumed he said that because Hinata was not good at it.

It really wasn't anything to be grateful for considering it was tradition that the noble clan heads children, be it sons or daughters, were to learn how to fight. Sakura's family was only of the civilian noble blood. There were hardly any known people in the family tree who had learned of the ways to control their chakra or had learned the usage of chakra.

Her father had been a Shensi warrior because he had displayed great martial art prowess and could use his chakra very well. Few men were at his level. Shensi warriors were the Shensi because of their ability to go above and beyond with their martial arts and use of chakra.

Well in her opinion it was mostly because they could utilize their chakra. It was not like the Shensi warriors included a lot of warriors who could not use their chakra. The few that did were truly amazing with their martial prowess. It was an amazement that few could beat. But it was incredibly rare for one to be like that.

For a Shensi warrior, being able to use the elements was very good already. And the mastery of that along with the techniques of many other sections was what made her father a MinZao leader.

That and his intelligence of course.

Her father had often told her that perhaps she should have been born a boy. For if she were she would be an Yihao by now. There was a school of sorts for the male species to learn both the scholarly ways and the ways of the Shensi. What a pity Sakura was a girl...

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"Sakura! It's time to get ready!"

Said girl snapped up from her position on the single rope in her room. 'What!?'

Oh no... Sakura smacked her head... The matchmaker..

* * *

So do you guys like this? Do you find it confusing? I hope not. The more reviews I get the quicker I'll update! XD

Oh yeah, and about Sakura, yes she likes looking at sweaty men but she has a thing about them getting more than three feet close to her. It will be seen more often in later chapters. Go ItaSaku!

Btw 1 stone is 14 pounds so basically 32 kg. :D


	2. Matchmaking: A Peaked Interest?

Hi everybody! The notes are going to be in every chapter for your benefit. Haha, even I'm getting confused. But if I do make a mistake please tell me. ;).

Notes:

Genin: Sanhao

Chuunin:Erhao

Jounin:Yihao

Special Jounin: Te Yihao

Anbu: MinZao

Shinobi: FeiZha

Kunoichi: ZhaNu

Medic-nin (on the field) (unisex) -MinBao - highly trained medic nin. - Tsunade

If the medic is not Tsunade, use of chakra to execute lower level medical techniques is called Erminbao. Or SanMinBao.

Healers (an exception because they do not go on field and some of the women are allowed to learn the technique. Lol in case you haven't noticed its a male world here.) - MinWu

People with only chakra / energy no speed or knowledge of martial art or destructive usage of chakra/energy) - Baowu (unisex)

* * *

This was not happening.

This was so NOT happening...

How on earth had she managed to forget today was matchmaker day? She had thought it was tomorrow.. Ridiculous! She had even bought the pigs blood to fake her wound.

It would have happened beautifully. She would slip from the tree, onto the rock where she would whip out the fake blood and then fall to the floor. Her father was even going to meet their leader tomorrow so she could have cast an illusion.

Why couldn't she have stayed fifteen.. Then she wouldn't have to deal with this.. She hung her head. So many things to.. Too many people to please.. And far too many lecherous nobles to stay away from. At least if he were a noble bloodlined clan she would be alright, because they used chakra. Unlike common noble civilian clans they would be that tad bit more understanding. She sighed.. But she knew that she, a civilian noble would not be permitted to marry a bloodlined noble..

Considering her father was not bloodlined and was one of the first Shensi since many many generations ago.. She could just cry. But no. She would not. Never show weakness in the face of fear! Even if that current face was her mothers.

Sighing, she walked to the bathroom and disrobed. She sat down on the wooden stool and began to wash away the filth on her body. Fingers running over breasts that grew out of nowhere even with her constant tying of bindings, a taut stomach and lean legs.

She shivered. The water was very cold. Sakura got up and used a wind technique to dry her hair. She perfumed her body with the winter blossom oils all the while wishing that their clan was not a silk exports clan. For if they were not, they would all be living together and her female cousins could easily take her place to get married and have a boring life.

She came out of the bathroom in her bindings and mesh net with a pair of shorts made from blinding cloth sewn together with steel ends to keep everything together easily.

"Sakura! You still want to wear those?" Her mother looked rather comical as did the three other women behind her.

"Of course mother.. It is for my own safety."

"Yes yes, alright, do hurry. We do not have much time."

"*Sigh*"

"Now Sakura, this is Minoka and Haruka." She pointed to two very thin waif-like women. "They will be helping you dress."

She couldn't dress herself?

"I will be applying your makeup and Yamai," a short woman with greying but beautifully knotted hair, "Shall be fixing that hair of yours." Sakura sighed heavily. Would she at least rise to heaven after this?

A silk hakama came first. Tied ridiculously tight around her already small waist. Next came the printed nagajuban -or what she liked to call as "troublesome underwear"- that was tied tightly around her. And then a heavy extremely wide-sleeved furisode was placed on her. She had to admit though, it was very pretty. But would be a hassle to walk in. A lovely light pink and blue gradient with snowy white blurs around it. Shimmering dark blue and gold flowers made it perfect. Her obi was an almost yellow green with dark green and silver patterns on it.

She struggled not to wince as that Yamai lady knotted and reknotted and knotted her hair somemore. Was she sticking pins in her hair? Meanwhile, her mother was painting her face quite gleefully.

Something relatively heavy on her face, a fine spraying of powder making her cough. And then some nasty pulling at her eyebrows. Darn it.. She needed those, what was this now? Her eyelashes were feeling heavy and sticky. She could barely keep them open now.

Her lips were being scrubbed gently and her mother was applying a soft slightly dense powder and liquid to her lips.

"Alright! We are finished. Look at how pretty you are!"

And a mirror was thrust in front of her.

Sakura stared at herself. Well.. She looked alright... 'I suppose..' Her face was a shade paler than usual and a faint rosiness was on her cheeks. Her eyebrows were well defined and her mother probably plucked them as well.

**That would explain the pain we felt earlier.**

You are a such a wuss Inner..

**Tch whatever.**

Continuing on, her eyes were bright with some pearlescent powder and her mother had lined her eyes with black and purple. Her lips were a soft red, drawing the eye to their poutiness.

Her hair she decided, looked nice. Braided tightly and woven to sit on the crown of her head and beaded at the ends. A small array of white orchids and kanzashi were set in her hair and enhanced the gentle pink of her hair.

A pair of snowy white tabi were on her feet and she held back a groan when she saw the Geta -Japanese sandals- she had to wear. The were high with a tiny base for her to use to walk. Thank the heavens she had amazing chakra control. How else would she be able to walk in a furisode complete set and bloody high sandals?

"Come Sakura." She walked to her mother and smiled slightly as the older woman reached around her, "A gold bangle for luck and a jade pendant for youth-AAAAAAAHHHH!"

Oops. Well it wasn't her fault. Kigechu had not wanted to stay behind...

"Sakura! That snake of yours can't go!"

"Well if you can get her out of there then go ahead."

Her mother grumbled as she walked out of the house and gestured for Sakura to do the same. Sakura swirled her chakra as discretely as possible. Masking it while sending it onto the Geta at the same time.

"Take the bag dear, it holds charms and prayers from the temple and a fan if you feel warm."

"Yes mama."

"And keep your mouth shut and do not argue with any girls okay?"

"Okay."

"Now hurry up and go."

"Hai!"

Sakura leapt into the air before her mother could tell her to walk.

"Haruno-sama. Is she gone so soon?"

"Indeed. Her quick mastery of the Geta is admirable. Took me a whole moon to be able to move as quickly."

Her mother merely smiled weakly.

* * *

Sakura landed lightly behind the bushes and walked out into the crowd where all the young ladies of sixteen and seventeen stood. Her 'arch-rival' as Ino called herself sauntered up to her looking quite silly as she did. She could not walk on the geta properly and had to take short and tiny steps to reach Sakura.

Ino and Sakura had been friends until the day before the incident Ino had told Sakura that she wanted Uchiha Sasuke and after the incident Sakura had stopped talking to her. She had assumed that Sakura wanted him as well, like most of the other girls in the village. Noble bloodlined or civilian nobles be damned.

Unlike Sakura, although Ino was permitted to learn chakra usage and the other arts of the Shensi, she did not work hard at it. She was quite able at transferring her mind but that was about all she could do.

Right now Ino looked quite pretty, she supposed. Heavily painted face, hair in a flower, or was it the other way around? The kimono was very pretty. A light purple gradient with a dark green and contrasting colored flowers. A pity Ino could not carry a kimono the way Sakura did and had the grace of an elephant. She stared enviously as Sakura smiled at her and walked in long but quick graceful steps to the crowd of females.

"I bet today Tsunade will take me as an apprentice!" Sakura nodded.

"'Cause you see, I am from a noble bloodline clan, not to mention I fight better than you and I am much prettier. Plus, is that all you have on you?"

"My flowers are also much bigger and they have jewels on them not to mention that my kimono has gold threads in it which would indeed make them much more expensive than yours and...softer hair...skin...paler... Such small breasts!... So unwomanly...proper..."

Sakura was getting annoyed, it stemmed, as determined as she was to tune Ino out, the blonde haired girl was determined to make her listen. Well... Mother only said no talking... She never said don't use Kigechu...

She smirked a little and let her feelings flow to her little snake. It was quite a beauty. Emerald green with black and gold patterns.

Smaller... Tinier than my finger... Tougher than a rock.

Sakura let her sleeves touch the ground a little, letting Kigechu out.

She felt someone's eyes on her and her own nearly popped out when she realized that it was Uchiha Itachi. How much had he seen? Had he seen her jump in? Oh dear how was she to explain it. Wait.. She tried sensing his life-force although he had tried cloaking it. A feat that so far, only she had achieved. But as far as anyone knew, none had anyway... Where was he?

Ah.. He was in a tree! A tree that did not overlook where she had landed earlier.

She smirked. Ino wanted Uchiha Sasuke? Then she would take Uchiha Itachi.

She would leave a deep impression of her in his mind, keep him on his toes and interested in her. She smiled once again. This would be most fun.

* * *

Uchiha Itachi was well-known for being the prodigy of the village. A minzao at the age of thirteen and a reputation for being so fast, that not even the top martial artist who concentrated on speed, could beat him. He was the eldest son of one of the most highly sought after clans and had a mastery over his bloodline technique that no other Uchiha could compare to.

But Uchiha Itachi had a problem. He was also very handsome. Handsome to the point that he had received more than a thousand wedding proposals from matchmakers from all over the land of Huo, some of them from the matchmakers themselves. Right now, one of the women in that group would be married to him and his father knew that Itachi would not marry willingly. Even if it was his duty to the clan. Seeing as Itachi disliked Noble Bloodlined girls so much, and refused to look at a single Uchiha girl. he told him to have a look around and decide on a different type of girl. No matter if she was of noble blood or not.

He had been sitting in that tree for over thirty minutes and had scrutinized each of the girls with a very picky eye. He had even sent chakra to his ear to listen to what they said. As far as he could tell, only some of the girls had developed enough chakra coils to barely meet the minimum standard for a Sanhao, or an Erhao. How very disappointing. And all of them, save for the Hyuuga girl -Neji's cousin- were speaking of who they wanted to marry and how they would lie about themselves just to get married to a high up clan. It was either him, or his little brother, or Hyuuga Neji. Not to mention they were all covered in makeup and had too many flowers in their hair.

He had been prepared to give up. Until she arrived. She walked right out of a fenced area that lead to a dead end. Itachi had examined her chakra coils to see if she had any training whatsoever in Martial Artistry or in Shensi chakra usage. From the amount of development her chakra coils seemed to have, he felt it only reached the level of a Sanhao. The only female in that vicinity with Erhao chakra coils was the Hyuuga heiress. This was most interesting, just how had she come from that dead end? He dismissed the thought of her cloaking her chakra, because in order to do that, one had to learn how to pull the different sides of their life-force and only the Yihao air Minzao could do that. And not very well either.

She looked very ladylike and beautiful. Unlike how he had seen her in the Hyuuga house. She often wore a hakama and a kimono that tied the way a hippori did And more often than not, the ko-uchigi she wore would be somewhere on the floor next to her and Hinata. In contrast, she would always be holding a very ornate mirror. She looked a little funny and he had found his eye on her a few times.

She carried herself with the air of a woman who knew what she wanted and he suspected she had had some martial art training. Either that or she had very good reflexes. He noted that once, she had been drinking tea with Hinata in the courtyard when a dagger was misfired and went away. She merely tilted her head to the side and moved her hand downwards by a fraction. Letting the dagger hit the wall behind her. When she noticed what she had done by reflex. She had dared to say it was reflex. No in had said anything, considering she was on good terms with the Hyuuga heiress. Since then, she had peaked his had seen her a few times on horseback out in the fields. Wearing what he suspected was a loose hippori that she couldn't be bothered to tie properly and a hakama that was not tied high enough. The slivers of skin he had seen from her had been enough to draw his attention away from the stressful work of being the eldest son.

Now as he looked at her, he noticed her nodding and smiling at the Yamanaka girl, to the untrained eye, she appeared to be listening and very attentive. But he noticed the way she smirked at different times and the way her eyes would narrow glaze over slightly. When she deliberately let her hand down and allowed the sleeve to touch the floor, he did not notice himself moving forward to see what was happening.

He felt rather disappointed when all he saw was a black and gold sliver no bigger than his last finger slither out. Until he saw Sakura barely twitch a finger, and then it literally flew into the Yamanaka's dress from under her skirt. He could hear her screaming and yelling for help. And was that something under her skirt bigger? He could not tell. Kimonos were thick enough as it was.

True enough, Kigechu had made himself bigger and was quite happy slithering around in her kimono. Biting a few seams here and there. Tearing at some of the lovely silk.. It tasted fairly decent.. But he preferred Sakura's grilled cod. Much better texture. He thinned himself to the point where he was as thin as thread and coiled around her ankles. The Yamanaka never had a chance.

Itachi gazed on amusedly as he saw something bind itself around the Yamanaka's legs. He nearly chuckled as the girl flopped onto the mud. It seemed that she had angered the Haruno girl, if the laughter and satisfaction in her eyes were anything to go by. And then her name was called.

"Haruno Sakura!"

She surprised him by turning to him a little and making eye contact with him. Smirking as she moved quickly while looking at him and the Yamanaka consecutively. Almost as if she were telling him to look at her handiwork. He smirked slightly when the sliver of black and gold darted up Sakura's skirt and bunched up ever so slightly under her sleeves.

He was interested in her.

* * *

"Haruno Sakura!" And that was her cue. She would love to stay and watch Ino in distress but she had to go. She turned her head slightly to catch the elder Uchiha's eye. His chakra had a lovely sky blue emotion to it. So the guy was interested in her huh?

She praised Kigechu inwardly as the little thing slithered up her legs and onto her arm. Settling itself there and flattening its scales. She could have sworn she felt it preening.

Inside the matchmakers home was a lovely spicy scent and her pet pig, Tonton, came running up to her. Used to the scent of Kigechu.

"Sakura. Come and sit."

"Haii Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade was a most renowned healer and was the first woman with the privilege of being officially trained past the Yihao level. However, tradition was tradition and rules were rules. She was still female and was only called upon when the country was in grave danger and the last time that had happened was ten years ago.

Her home had two sides to it and Sakura was the second person ever to be fortunate enough to see both of them. Double-leveled with a barely there gentle illusion cast on it to induce the person into being a lot more cooperative. Sakura being the only one other than Shizune to ever pass it unaffected had been welcomed into Tsunade's good graces. Not to mention she had a good sense of humor and a sharp wit that Tsunade found refreshing. Smart and intelligent she had happily taught Sakura as much as she could and had passed her scrolls she had written by herself to study. Unlike many of the proper girls, she had no qualms with drinking Sake and had in fact, sniffed out her Sake room that was hidden in the walls.

After a good four years of Tsunade's thrice weekly company, Sakura could finish over fifty bottles of sixty percent alcohol and ten bottles of Tsunade's homemade wine distiller from corn. For special uses and purposes only, this ninety percent alcoholic drink has sent both Sakura and Tsunade to the floor. So far, Sakura still hasn't managed to our drink Tsunafe on her homemade drink. She is down by half a bottle. And this is while Sakura does not circulate her chakra to remove the effects of alcohol. Of couse, Tsunade had beat it into her that when she woke up in the morning after a night of wine to remove all the toxins no matter how painful it was. Or she would cut her open and do it herself. Sakura never wanted to try it that way.

Tsunade-sama was well-known within HuoShensi as well as many of the other hidden villages for her prowess within the Art of Healing as well as the mountain-crushing strength she held. However, the rules of HuoShensi were tough on an ambitious woman. The lack of women who were willing to go against the law to train in the Shensi arts were minimal too. Therefore, when Sakura had asked to be taken as an apprentice, Tsunade had gladly complied, muttering that thank goodness some girl was willing to learn and was not afraid of some hardwork.

It pained Tsunade to see so many able-bodied women refuse to become MinWu. If enough women were willing to try, she would happily train them all even if it would tire her ridiculously. However... That chauvinist orientated Danzo had complained to the council elders often enough that t had reached a point where unless the woman was within a bloodlined family, no chakra molding or any sort was to be told. Therefore, only a few women had learnt the Art of Healing, and even then, they were too busy succumbing to their husbands wishes...

Back to Tsunade's home. Double-leveled. Upstairs was where she slept and conducted medical experiments, sometimes, to Shizune's chargrin, poisons. The ground level for when she needed to heal anyone and where she received clients and the underground was where she trained to keep fit. The upper floor was where she kept her alcohol and other 'nice things'. Sakura had trained with Tsunade numerous times on the stone floors of her underground room and had learnt a thing or two about dodging and smashing someone's bones. But her strength without chakra was crazy enough.

On the ground floor, past the front doors were a screen with a large painting of a fairy and a huge life-size vase on either side of the painting. Past the screen was a table with two levels stuffed with scrolls, ink and brushes. It was large and marbled with black and white. On each end were a few cushions and on each end of the room were bamboo cabinets wth seals on them. At a corner of the room was a marble stand with wood shavings that were used for brewing tea. Or as when Sakura was here, heating up cold Sake for a cold winter.

Past the spacious table were a huge set of curtains, one a dark red and one a pale orange. The dark red was sectioned into three sections. One for diagnosing people, one for operating people, and one extra large section with a few curtains in between when people decided to stay over for observations after a surgery. Tsunade kept her ready-made medicines in a rattan cabinet that was sealed and locked. Tsunade was in her fifties but still resembled a young woman in her twenties. Honey-blonde hair and slightly thinning lips that often broke into a mischievous smile. She wore a white vest that tied to the side, a green Haori and dark black pants. A necklace made from the rare jewel kesshoseki coincided with the seal on her forehead.

Her amber eyes glinted mischievously. "Sakura, pour me a cup of **tea** will you?"

Oh so she wanted it that way huh? Wouldn't even take it herself. Sakura smiled. "Hai Tsunade-Ojou-sama!"

"Yamete!"

"Hehehe, gomen gomen."

Sakura walked over to the marble stand and turned off the kettle. She acted as though she was busy with adding tea leaves while focusing and searching for a nearby Sake bottle, inhaling, she converted the sake and the tea into their airy forms. Focusing, she swept the air out of the little hole in the cork of the sake bottle and replaced it with tea, then placing the sake's air form into the kettle. She released their airy forms and winced when she heard a splash.

'Going to have to correct that.'

Eversince Tsunade had found out that Sakura had the ability to convert air to water and water to ice so to say, she had been poking holes in her sake bottles and telling Sakura to pour her 'tea' every time they met. Tsunade claimed it was good practice. Sakura knew better.

"Hai Tsunade-sama. Enjoy." Sakura smiled at her shishou.

"Tch. I am not so old.."

"Ah.. That's true. I should be calling you shishou ne?"

"Bah! I have taught you everything. You've practically surpassed me now. Four years and I'm becoming an old lady... Pfft.." She was muttering under her breath while sipping her sake."

"Shishou! You know I can hear you just fine." She received a smirk from her. "Besides.. There is one thing.. Or two that you haven't taught me."

Tsunade raised a brow, and then she frowned. "No Sakura. Kami-sama knows you will use it on the first almost dead person you meet. Forget it. It's not happening Sakura. You hear me? NO!"

Sakura just looked down. "D-datte.. Shishou..."

"You.. How long have you been pestering me for this?"

"I believe it has already been a year."

"Aahh... Alright. I will teach you the Yin seal. But no more! You got it? I will never, EVER teach you that forbidden jutsu!"

"E-ehh.. B-but, why?"

"Because I know you will use it on the first person you see almost dying."

"Mmph.." Sakura just looked away.

Tsunade smiled. "Alright, let's get this matchmaker business over with and I can teach you the technique."

"Aah.. Okay."

"Now, have a sip of tea, Haruno Sakura, and lie about everything you are going to say to me."

Sakura giggled. "Ahem, of-of course Matchmaker-san.. Kekekekke.."

"MmmHerrmm, now, Haruno Sakura, do you -" She couldn't do it. She sighed and cleared her throat again. "Now, Haruno Sakura, do- okay that is it! I can't do this! Not to you at least!"

She shoved the paper and board into Sakura's hands. "Read it."

_Requirements of a bride-to-be_

_1. She has to be able to bear as many children as her husband wishes._

_2. She must understand that she is to always cook, clean and sew for any member of the main house. This includes her husband's mother and father, her husband and their children. But this is only a requirement for those who will marry bloodlined clan sons. Should she marry into any clabunt is however not in training to be a matriarch, she has to be prepared to clean and cook as well as do any other chores based on her ranking in the family._

_3. She must dress as her husband wishes and must fulfil his needs no matter what or how bizarre they may be._

_4. She must understand that her husband is permitted to have as many concubines and women as he wishes. He may visit the flower houses should he wish and she is not allowed to complain because he is providing for her._

_5. If she has any improper relationship with any man she will be flogged in public and if she is impregnated both mother and child are o be drowned. However, if her husband does not wish her dead, she may be allowed to live but the child is to be drowned._

_6. Should she have any training or outings going on whatsoever, she should be prepared to cancel them all when she gets married. It is possible that she may have to completely give up her past lifestyle to accommodate her new husbands lifestyle. After all, he is now providing for more than one person._

_7. She must have a cheerful, demure and gentle demeanor and must be able to look pretty beside her husband as his arm's gold._

_These are just the basic requirements for any bride-to-be and should she not answer in accordance to this paper I am most sorry to say she will not be a good wife for any man. _

_Should she agree to all of these she must then understand her husbands social standing. Intellect is important when entertaining but she must remember to keep silent and know her place. Now, every bride-to-be will have their forms sent to each and every noble bloodlined or civilian clan. They may be certain requirements in different houses and should the bride-to-be be unable to fulfil them she will not be considered_.

"You say you can't do this to me. And all the other girls?"

"Sakura, none of the girls have your spirit or fire. If you were to marry a man merely for social standing, you will be broken down. In an age where we women have no rights, it is not easy to survive Sakura."

"But shishou!"

"Sakura. All the other girls have been groomday from day one. They can play music, entertain, look pretty and know their 'place'. They can adapt to a lifestyle like that. To some girls, being able to marry into a family is good enough. But you cannot do that."

"Sakura, marry for love. Marry for who you are. I was in an arranged marriage once. It did not go well."

"Shishou.."

"I will send your profile to the different clans And the-"

"Eh? Why them? I don't want to marry the Uchiha brat!"

"Hahaha... Now Sakura, listen. I will send them your profile, but it will be honest. Write what you truly love and write about who you are. Chances are the snobby ones will reject it and the clans who want an actual daughter-in-law will not."

"Also..."

"Huh?"

"I have heard that the eldest Uchiha refuses to marry an Uchiha girl. Claims they are too pompous. Give him a chance eh Sakura? He is hardly arrogant and is a good man. Anti-social. But good."

Sakura smiled slightly. "Hai, I know shishou. I know."

Tsunade just gazed her with a naughty smile, "But Sakura.." "Hmm?" "I don't care how much you like him.. Don't jump into bed with him yet okay?"

"SHISHOU!"

"Hahahahahaha, stop faking it! I've seen you ogle more than a dozen sweaty men a number of times already. Shy my foot! Okay here's the scroll. Remember the steps and don't forget to do a reverse turn of chakra and concentrate it where you want the seal to be. Your body will build it slowly with any access chakra. Or if you can harness any store it. Once you have enough chakra to match your life force the seal will make an appearance."

"Thank you shishou!"

"Yeah-yeah. Now get outta here."

"Haii!"

And she walked out smiling and happy.

* * *

You like you like? I do! I think it's pretty good. You? I'm going to be writing the s'more exciting parts soon so be patient.

:D cheers reviews please!


	3. Dishonor: Filial Piety

I realize that I haven't gotten to the disguising as a man part. Or the war part. But it's getting there! Promise!

Notes:

Genin: Sanhao

Chuunin:Erhao

Jounin:Yihao

Special Jounin: Te Yihao

Anbu: MinZao

Shinobi: FeiZha

Kunoichi: ZhaNu

Medic-nin (on the field) (unisex) -MinBao - highly trained medic nin. - Tsunade

If the medic is not Tsunade, use of chakra to execute lower level medical techniques is called Erminbao. Or SanMinBao.

Healers (an exception because they do not go on field and some of the women are allowed to learn the technique. Lol in case you haven't noticed its a male world here.) - MinWu

People with only chakra / energy no speed or knowledge of martial art or destructive usage of chakra/energy) - Baowu (unisex)

Also, Konoha will also be called HuoShensi. And like I said, if I made some mistakes don't hesitate to tell me.

* * *

Sakura walked home with a beautiful smile on her face. Drawing the eyes of every male in the vicinity.

'Mmm, the wind is so cooling..'

**Yea, and the birds are singing too aren't they?**

'Not entirely.. But it is such a lovely day..'

**My oh my.. We see a side to Sakura that is hardly seen... **

'Hmm?'

**The giggly side! Stop giggling! You're even giggling in your head, which is here, which is also pounding through MY head! **

'Ahh.. So sorry so sorry.'

**I need cotton balls.**

'Why?'

**Because, you are still giggling and all I can see here is Itachi.. Itachi.. ITACHI!**

'Ouch..' She winced a little. 'You are quite loud today.'

**I always am! Oh forget it! I will be back! Mark my words I will! **

And she retreated to a door with a lock and chains in Sakura's mind. But Inner was quite right. She had been thinking of the Uchiha quite a lot lately. It really wasn't her fault. But she longed to know what he was like.

Now, this very uncommon occurrence of Sakura becoming interested in the elder Uchiha was really all said Uchiha's fault. He had been too nice and he had not said a single word that said anything remotely about arrogance, or power, and get this, not even chauvinism! He was unlike anything she had ever seen! She longed to unwrap him and talk to him because she could tell he wasn't an air-headed man.

**Does that mean you want to unwrap his clothes too?**

'Oh yes...' And then pictures of a very naked Itachi who just happened to be wearing a loincloth was conjured all over her head. She sighed dreamily. 'Wait.. No! I meant to say no!'

**Gee Sakura, whatever happened to.. Ahem, and I quote, -I don't care what they are like, they are all just assholes who are chauvinistic, but they are assholes with nice butts and hot bodies, so since I'm not marrying any of these martial art or Shensi training warriors, I might as well take advantage of their sexy abdominal muscles- Oh you are so, in DEEP!**

'No! I just.. Think.. That he would make... A good... Uh.. A good witty person!'

**A good witty person? That wasn't even said correctly**!

'Uh-... Ah... I -uhh... I meant a good partner! A good conversationalist! Yes that's right! A bloody good conversationalist.'

**You... What happened to the girl that wouldn't tell Neji that his all white ensemble was very see-through when it got wet?**

Pictures of said Hyuuga Neji came out from her memories. Oh boy.. She could almost drool.. Even his pants were wet.. Pity his undergarments were made of binding material...

'Wait no! Stop Inner! Stop it right now!'

**Or what? **

'Or I will lock you up myself in a room full of Neji pictures while you are tied up!'

**Grr... Fine! Be that way!**

* * *

Itachi found himself following Sakura again. Wait... when had he started calling her Sakura? Anyway, he did not know how this had happened. He had been walking home via the rooftops when he had taken notice of her. And so he decided to walk with her to wherever she was going, he just didn't tell her that he was going to walk with her while hidden from everybodies sight.

This was supposed to be called stalking. Perhaps it did not apply to the Uchiha?

He took notice of how her eyes were completely hazy, signifying she was lost in her thoughts, and he found it funny the way her face would scrunch up and then soften and smile.. And then a rosy blush would pop up on her cheeks to which she would suddenly turn to the right or to the left, and then she would look forward again with a determined expression. This continued for quite a while.

The whole time she just kept walking, ducking under men with large crates, jumping over carts and wheelbarrows, and weaving in and out of the throng of people. He could have sworn that she was about to walk into a a huge sign. He really thought she would. It was so big and hung about seven feet from the ground. The end of the board reaching her waist. She merely bent over backwards to swerve under it and turned in a circular motion, smoothly continuing her walk. He could have sworn he felt himself gasp a little at her scrunching of her nose when she pounded her fist against her hand.

Hmm?

'Is that.. A scar?'

On the back of her hands, leading to her wrist he could have sworn he saw something whitish. His eyes were praised for their vision and of how he never mistook anything for another.

But surely he had seen wrongly? The Haruno girl was a female and a noble. How could she have possibly acquired a scar?

He knew of over a thousand women who would screech over the faintest mark on their bodies. Just the other day, his very sensitive ears had been tortured by the high-pitched notes of Uchiha Makuri's incessant yelling. His mother had later told them that one of the new girls had scratched her calves slightly while giving her a body scrub.

Itachi could not understand women. Why go to all the trouble of having someone give you a body scrub? Why not do it yourself? And why would you want a stranger rubbing their hands all over you. Furthermore, it was just a little nick at the calf. Just what on earth was so bad about that?

Apparently, she was going to get married and didn't want her husband-to-be to see her legs in such a 'horrible manner'. It was a pity that she had to change herself to suit some man's needs. She used to be so much more witty and interesting.

Ah..While he had been thinking just a little, she had continued walking when he had paused and was no longer in his line of sight. Hmm, it would be best for him to return as well then.. Seeing as he was no longer 'walking' with her.

He felt someone's chakra flicker in beside him. It was one of the new Minzao Warriors. He wore a black, red and white eagle mask.

"Karui-san."

"Uchiha-san, the Hokage calls for you."

* * *

Within a tall and imposing building made entirely from stone lay a circular room filled with sealed cabinets and imposing bookshelves. One end of the room was filled with large windows, overlooking the village. In the middle of those glass windows stood the Hokage, the highest leader of official ranking in the village.

It was strange to see him not in his seat. Particularly since it was his favorite seat.

"Hokage-sama!"

"Mmm, thank you Karui-kun, you may leave."

"Hai!"

The moment the door closed the old man turned to him. He looked more weary than Itachi had ever seen. The Hokage extended his chakra over the room and past the doors, ensuring that nothing that would be spoken of within this room would reach others outside it.

Next to Itachi, Hatake Kakashi *poofed* in. Creating smoke that quickly dispersed.

Hatake Kakashi was almost as much a prodigy as Uchiha Itachi was. Graduating from the academy of Shensi Arts in one year and becoming an Yihao at the age of thirteen. He was older than Itachi by about eight years and had a far bit more experience that he did.

Hatake Kakashi was also known as Sharingan Kakashi. Having the bloodline limit of the Uchiha's within one eye was a much infuriating thought that many other less accomplished Uchiha clan members had to deal with.

Within the span of twenty-nine years, Hatake Kakashi had participated in at least two major wars and a few minor clashing with other Villages that practiced the different aspects of of Shensi.

The one Shensi village they often had troubles with was the Hidden Village of Sound. They were well known for constantly bonding with other angsty villages to war against the Shensi Village of Fire, also known as the Hidden Village of Leaves. The different names were mostly because of the vast amount of of earth in the Land of Huo.

"Kakashi, Itachi, I have grave news." Said Shensi warriors perked their ears. "The warriors of Sound have banded with the warriors of Rain, Mist and Cloud. As we speak, they are amassing a huge amount of warriors to take us down."

"They must not reach the border of Huo. Should they reach us, we will have little chance of stopping them. Itachi, Kakashi, send word to every household, any man of sixteen summers and below fifty winters is to gather at the Courtyard of Zhou. Brief them and direct them to where they will go."

"Civilian or Bloodlined you will train them to prepare for this upcoming battle in the outskirts of HuoShensi. Hatake, you will assist and advice the Uchiha in the leadership of these men. Learn from this Uchiha. It will be a very important lesson."

"But, my two loyal warriors, that is not all. You must pick a few trusted men to train specifically in stealth to go undercover into Sound and stop something that could affect us horribly. You see, I have received most alarming news that I do not wish for others to hear. Specifically our top chauvinist Danzo-sama. A new rise among Sound has started. Their leader, Orochimaru has been mixing chakras and genes to create women with the minds of men."

"Please understand, while here we do not allow the women to participate in any political views or training, over there Orochimaru has been encouraging it. Furthermore, these women are genetically mutilated to be mindless warriors for him, and surely you boys understand just how determined a rightly encouraged woman is?"

Indeed they did. A very good example was Tsunade-sama, their resident healer. She had fought in many of their wars, and to prove herself, had trained twice as hard than her male counterparts. It was also a well-known fact that women tended to have better chakra control than men.

"The reason I do not wish for Danzo to know this is because he may take it two ways. One, he will shrug it off and deem it unnecessary for me to have extra warriors trained specifically for this and may even complain to the council that I am using more money for budgeting than I should."

" Two, he could take a turn and start forcing the very docile women of HuoShensi to suddenly take part in such rigorous training. He may try to undo so many years of tradition by once and that would not work easily. It is fine in Sound because Orochimaru reigns with a hand of fear, force and mass amounts of treasure for bribery. The worst can only happen should Danzo find out."

"Do you men understand the danger of this situation and the necessity for you to be discreet? Hatake, please prepare to recruit the men quickly. Itachi, go home and study your battle plans and think up a training regime for the men"

"Hai Hokage-sama!" They spoke in unison, and disappeared quickly.

* * *

Sakura reached home in high and happy spirits. She carefully lifted her skirts and walked across the garden stones carefully, displaying a rare moment of femininity.

"Mama, I have returned!" She could not wait to tell her what Tsunade-sama had said.

She removed her geta at the foot of the house and walked in. Her mother walked out quickly with a worried expression on her face. Sakura assumed she had merely been worried about her behavior.

"Sakura," She was pulled into a warm hug, "So everything went well?"

"Yes mama, Tsunade-sama will help me prepare my profile, I am really quite excited." She giggled happily.

Her mother smiled slightly, "Aah.. That is good. Good."

Sakura's smile disappeared. Something was wrong. Normally when she smiled or acted the way her mother thought she should a lovely bright smile would cover her face.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed that her mother's usually perfect flat bun was in slight disarray and her grey hair was peeking out. Something her mother never allowed. Her normally bright complexion was sallow and her eyes were redder than usual. Even her clothing was rumpled.

"Mama, what is wrong, and where is father?"

"Sakura, what-whatever makes you think something is wrong?"

"Mama, you raised me for sixteen years, am I not to know when you are upset? You give me too little credit."

"Heh.. You speak too straightforwardly Sakura. You ought to have spoken in a more proper form, then the more noble families will look at you and, at least I can marry you off.. Sigh.. Oh.."

"Mama! You have never spoken of this before! Why are you suddenly so keen to marry me off now!?"

"It's not because I want to! It's because your father-" and then she quickly covered her mouth.

Sakura sighed. "What is it that father told you not to tell me.."

"Oh, Sakura.. It is nothing really.. Just... It's nothing at all... I... No, it is really nothing."

"Mother! I have a right to know! Especially if it concerns father!"

Her mother flinched. She rarely called her 'mother' unless it was important.

"I.. Oh Sakura I want to tell you.. But.. But.."

"But what mama?"

"I'll tell you, but you must promise not to go after your father."

"So he had to go off eh?"

"Language Sakura! And I will only tell you once you promise not to go after him!"

"Yes mother, I-"

"You cannot walk, run, jump, leap, or run with your hands!"

"Mother, I am hurt you think I would do that..."

"I know you better than you think Sakura.."

"Oh indeed mother."

"Do not patronize me, now about your father... It... It is important... I-I do not know the details but, I understand there is a war, and, and... He was called outside and had to go somewhere... And you know how his leg is and I -Oh! Sakura stop shaking me!"

"Mother! Where was he called to! I have to stop him, he can't receive the summons! I have to stop him, I have to , I have t-"

"Sakura you will do no such thing! It is dishonorable, and you promised you would not do anything!"

"Mother, you never said I couldn't fly there."

"What!?"

She ignored her mother's pleas and concentrated on pushing her chakra outwards, forming large beautiful hawk-like wings.

She cast an illusion over herself and ran out into the garden. She had not tried these once. She breathed in, exhaled, and pushed. She was lifting herself off the ground.

'Slowly, slowly...' and with a quick burst of wind she flew off, pulling and pushing the wind to her favor. Not even slowing down to ruffle an already ruffled Ino.

She felt for her father's chakra. Masking some of her chakra with her life-force and sending it around to give her a lead.

There!

It shined brightly and was coming from the Courtyard of Zhou.

The large horseshoe shaped stone arch was hard to miss. In a circular form, the stone walls covered the grounds. A dynasty ago, this place had been used for horseback fighting training. And right now, it was being used as an assembly for recruits.

She cast another illusion over herself and landed onto one of the large stones, watching and listening quietly. She suppressed her heartbeats and breath while harnessed some of the surrounding energies to cover her life-force and chakra. Hopefully, all that would be seen on the stone wall was a mouse.

**A mouse? That was the best you could come up with?**

Shut up! Who would suspect a mouse?

**Well for one thing, perhaps the the retired MinZao warrior Hatake Kakashi? And oh, I don't know... YOUR FATHER?**

Shush your mouth! I will not be suspected, I have trained hard enough for that. Now watch. I need to know what is going on.

**Ugh..**

"You have all been called here today to honor our Land! The Sound warriors have banded with our enemies and they will try to ravage HuoShensi!"

"Each of you are to return to pack and will meet us at the outskirts of HuoShensi. Within each of these scrolls are the royal seals! Directions to our camp are inside."

"Now any cowards who wish to leave and shame your family is welcome to do so. Are there any objections?"

There were only the shaking of heads and smiles of pride and perhaps a little fear as each man came forward to take a scroll. She could recognize the Hyuugas, the Uchihas... Some Inuzukas... We're those the Aburames? Most of the men here were young and fit while some of the older ones were merely in their forties, wise to the ways of destruction and physically ready for war. But her father was not. He may have had the best strategies and the cleanest, quickest kills, but his foot would slow him down.

It could be his undoing and cause of death. She shivered as an image of her father came before her. A grey faced, sapped of life attached to a body that was plunged through with a broadsword and blood staining the ground. Would he be remembered? And so what if he was... How was she to live with his death?

NO! She had to stop this!

Without thinking she got down from the stone wall and rushed into the courtyard when she saw her father take a scroll. Murmurs arose when the men noticed her entrance. Pink haired hair with flowers coming off, her geta nowhere to be seen and her kimono and tabi were dusty and dirty.

She flinched when she saw all eyes on her. So many men... There were at least a thousand men.

She gritted her teeth and ran in front of the man with silver gravity-defying hair and snatched the scroll out of the hands that were about to give it to her father.

She swore she heard the sound of jaws dropping. In a funnier situation, she would have laughed. But not now.

"Please! Spare my father! He is old and his leg is crippled... I fear that he, he will..."

"Young Lady, you should not be here. Do you not realize the consequences of what you are doing?"

She hurriedly kneeled on the ground, not noticing the widening of the man's eyes. "Please, honorable MinZao warrior! No that is not right, but you are as honored as one, perhaps even more! I understand what I am doing is very wrong, but I would rather risk myself for my father! Please! Please I beg of you, don't allow him to partake in this... Please.. "

A man with a porcelain mask spoke. " A woman has no right to interfere with the business of men! Go home and stay home!"

"Oh warrior, Honorable Hatake Kakashi, please, I, I will do anything I can do to prevent this! A-anything at all... I.."

"Would a noble woman like you agree to anything at all?"

"Yes anything!" She stared up at him hopefully.

"Would you lay in my bed then?" A collective gasp arose. To be propositioned as such was shameful...

"You... You..."

"You said you would do anything. So now I ask you... If I were to ask you to strip right here.. Would you?"

At this very moment Uchiha Itachi walked in, eyes widening when he saw Sakura there, on her knees. He was even more shocked when he heard Kakashi speak.

"Or are you a woman who says that she will do something and then changes her mind."

What on earth was he talking about?

"I am no such woman. But to think that such an **honored** man would ask this of a noble lady..." The men flinched upon hearing the iciness of the word, "My thoughts of you have only gone downhill now. But I am a woman who keeps her word."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps someone will help me undo my obi?"

Itachi's jaw fell forward slightly, as did every other mans. What was she going to strip?

"So you will do it?"

"Sakura, stop this! Your mother would faint.. Leave at once you fool!"

"No father. I will not. And yes oh honorable warrior, I will indeed remove my garments. I said I would do anything, and thus I shall. Removing my clothes is a small matter compared to mutilating my body. I must say however, you may not enjoy the sight of my skin."

So she was going to go that far? Would she stop at all? Itachi was about to move forward, only to be stopped by Hatake.

"Hold on, I will not allow her to get far and neither will her father." He whispered into Itachi's ear.

"I am sure that I would young lady. Now go on Kumoka-san, help her remove her obi."

The man took out his sword and was about to slash it when she spoke, "Also, it is made of high-grade quality material. Please do not rip it in any form away from me."

The man grumbled and squatted down to help her untie the intricate knots of her obi. When finished, she pulled it away from her, placing it on the ground And folding it neatly.

.

Itachi stared momentarily before turning around and leaving. As much as he wished to see Sakura undressed, he would not disrespect her in such a manner. He could see what Kakashi was doing, but it was still wrong. He scratched his head slightly as he left and returned home.

.

She untied the sash around her waist and opened up a side of her kimono, exposing her translucent silk nagajuban, printed with cherry blossoms.

Many of the more 'innocent' men, hurriedly turned their heads away from embarrassment and the older men did so with embarrassment for the girl.

Sakura did not like this. She was not shy or embarrassed with completely stripping herself because she did so to protect her family. It was an honor in its own right.

She just disliked the whole point of it, and the fact that there were so many men watching her.. Sort of. A few of them were not. But if she could stop her father from going to the war she would even allow herself to be taken. Just for her father.

She bit her lip as she pulled the furisode of her form, draping it and folding it properly. The moment she had untied her under layer the Hatake halted her.

"What is this? You ask for me to strip yet you stop me."

"I wanted to see how far you would go," she narrowed her eyes, "To see if you truly would keep your word. And I hate to say that I cannot stop your father from going, Only the Hokage can. Let this be a lesson girl, never allow yourself to be shamed and taken advantage of when you do not realize what you are getting into," she began twitching, "Only stupid girls do that." That was the last straw.

She pulled herself up, not bothering to retie her clothing and stalked towards him. Anger was in her eyes.

"How dare you. How dare you to try...To try to humiliate me... All those words merely to see me how far I would go? And don't you dare tell me, that I was being a stupid girl!"

She walked right up to him and stood a few inches from him, finger pointed at his chest.

"I stripped willingly, I was not being taken advantage off. You know why? Because I knew full well what I was prepared to do when I said anything. It was not a careless mis-wording, do not take me for one of the foolish marriage-minded figures in this village. Furthermore, I was not humiliating nor shaming my family, in my opinion, it was honor."

He opened his mouth only to find her fingers shutting it close.

"I am not finished.. It is not polite to interrupt a lady when she is speaking Hatake.." Her father reddened and the use of her words. "It was honor because I honored my word, because I am filial to the point where I was ready to allow anything to happen to me. Yes, do not look at me that way. I said anything."

"Even to have my flesh scraped from my bones and to have my bones picked out with a knife, even to be taken by a pig like. You." She enunciated her words while poking harshly into his chest.

The men flinched at her words.

"I believe that even the gods would take my side, because filial piety, is the most honorable of honor, and clearly you do not know that, or you would not have tried to shame me."

She stepped away from him and picked up her clothes, quickly re-tying her nagajuban and her furisode. She held her obi in one hand and walked to her twitching father.

Kakashi sighed. He tried to show what he thought was a cute little girl who did not understand the ways of the world to watch her mouth and be careful of her actions and he got a lecture from it. He supposed it did seem like he had tried to humiliate her... Many of the younger men were staring at him in resentment, but the older ones nodded and gazed at him with understanding. And was her father almost a shade of tomato?

"Father, I will go to the Hokage at once, please-

_SLAP!_

The entire crowd of men were silenced. Sakura's face was turned to the side. Amongst the crowd Neji and Sasuke stared at this show of violence. Most of the men here were sons and husbands below the age of fifty, and contrary to what Sakura thought, were most unlike the men who married the women who followed the requirements of the bride-to-be's. It had merely been something that had been instilled by the snotty and rude council members as well as the nobles of outside the hidden village.

Her face was red and the corner of her lips had begun bleeding.

"You dishonor me Sakura.. Saying things like that... You should know your place."

"F-father.. I... I..."

"Do not dishonor me more by going to the Hokage. Should you do that, I will disown you!"

Everybody was silenced. Even the cockiest or most lecherous of men were silent when they heard that declaration.

Sakura turned to him tears silently coming down her cheeks. "Yes father. I understand." She owed once and walked out of the arched gate with her head held high. No one dared to stand in her way.

"Honorable Hatake Kakashi, forgive her rudeness, she is but a young girl with far too much impulse. My sincere apologies,

Just a young girl who happened to have a whole bucketful of guts. To come barging in like that with no fear of the repercussions, and to take said repercussions with such grace.. It was not easy to do.

"Aah.. She is a quite like you though.. Is she not?" He smirked under his mask. The young Uchiha boy had already left the moment the obi had come of. Young men were so easily embarrassed nowadays. Or perhaps he respected her too much to do it?

Haruno Kyodu just looked away, the pain on his hand bringing guilt with it.

* * *

Sakura had fled the moment she had step foot out of the arched stone gate. The tears continued to drip. Staining her kimono.

She quirked the side of her mouth. Mother would be quite upset...

.

.

She did not return home that night. She had only sat in one of their oak trees. Silently watching her parents talk and eat, their shadows moving against the rice paper walls of their house.

She would do whatever it took to protect her family. She could not, wound not allow her mother to be heartbroken. It would be better for them to lose a daughter than to lose the head of house.

She tread silently in her room, packing clothes for a few days into a knapsack as well as some newly hollowed out bamboo bottles. She packed some salves and extra binding cloth as well as bandages. A quick study of her father's prayer room found her the scroll.

'I'm sorry father. But I can't let you do this. Please, forgive your dishonorable daughter.'

She carefully untied Yoru from the stand in the stable and took him out. She walked to the stone ancestral pavilion placed over a hundred paces from the house.

_This is it..._

Sakura removed her kimono layer by layer, folding it quickly and efficiently. All she had left was her bindings and her shorts. She removed her bindings and winced a little as her breasts fell out. They were getting tender. Oh dear.. Was the moon nearly out? She pressed some chakra into her uterus, sealing it and preventing any untimely moments.

Quietly, she rewound the bindings around her chest as tight as she could, almost crying out at the discomfort. She bit her lips and tightened it further, securing it with the steel ends. Next, she pulled her mesh top on and then she put on a tight-fitting beige vest. This would do if any clothing-grabbing movements happened. Next, she put on her hakama and tied the ends tightly. She shrugged on a hippori and was careful to tie it the way a man would.

She rolled bandages around her hands and feet and smiled a little as she put on her wrist guards and sandals. And now, the final step.

She pulled out a dagger and cut her hair unevenly. While the Uchiha and Hyuuga could get away with long hair, she could not. It would not do for her to stand out. She looked at herself in the shiny ancestral tablets.

She looked like a man. Hadn't her father always said she should have been born a male? Well she certainly looked the part. Hold it...Her hair was pink! Everyone in the village knew she had pink hair! Sakura quickly sent her chakra down her hair. Focusing on the melanin in them and sending some coaxing energies into it. She would not be able to blacken her locks, but she could turn them into a lovely brownish red. There! All done. Now, she was ready.

She kowtowed before her ancestors and relighted the incense.

'Please forgive any dishonor I have caused, I would rather lay in the realms of shame than allow anything more to happen to my father I beg for your blessing.''

And with that, she rode off into the night.

* * *

It had begun storming and thunder pounded the skies.

Haruno Kiyara tossed and turned, sweat poured from her skin, drenching her clothing.

'Sakura... Sakura...'

Her daughter was seen fighting another man. It was stormy and thundering within her dreams. So many different scenes were going on at the same time. Sakura riding on a sleek black stallion, garbed in bloodied armor and a sword in her hands.

She was fighting savage looking men. Barbaric with scars all over their bodies. And she tripped. The man smiled cruelly and brought his large mace down on her.

'No! No!'

"SAKURAAAA!"

Her mother screamed in terror as she awoke from her nightmare.

"Kiyara, what is wrong? What.."

"Sakura! Sakura! Where is she!?"

The Haruno mother ran through the corridor as fast as she could and pushed open the door to her daughters room. It was empty with the exceptions of some stray clothings.

Haruno Kyodu feared the worst.

Surely she would not be so silly...

He ran to his prayer room, hoping it wasn't true. That Sakura was not so foolish as to do this. But alas, his wishes were not answered. Sakura had left with the scroll. The scroll he was meant to take.

"Kyodu! We have to stop her!"

"We-we can't... I.."

"What do you mean you can't! Sakura could die! She is just a girl... She... She... Ohh..." She covered her face with her palms.

"If.. If I were to tell them, that she is my daughter... She could be executed. I.. I cannot have that..."

All Kiyara did was sob into his shoulder. Whatever would happen to Sakura? And that girl.. That silly girl who thought she never noticed.. Sakura's fear of men... She would be so afraid...

For the first time in his life, Haruno Kyodu and his wife could merely stay back and hope for the best. Praying that their little girl would not have an untimely accident.

* * *

Oh man. It is so hard to pull these words out of me. Like always, review please! Reviews keep me happy and motivated to work hard! Plus, once I pass 30 reviews, a very detailed bathing scene of Sakura and Itachi/Neji/Sasuke scene -you pick the character- with the very elaborately described male-of-choice. I might even have to post it on AFF. Giggles. Okay!

So review please! Panda Gaara is giving out cookies. In only an apron. ;)


	4. Dressed Proper To Cause a Ruckus

In case nobody has read it yet, this is a spin-off from Mulan. If you find that it is too close to the original or something do give me some ideas on what i may do to make the plot a little more interesting.

I'm starting a poll on the extra Saku-Ita/Neji/Sasu bath scene. :D

Itachi :3

Sasuke: 1

Neji: 1

Naruto: 1

All of them: 1 -and oops! Do I hear a Gaara?

.

.

Notes:

Genin: Sanhao

Chuunin:Erhao

Jounin:Yihao

Special Jounin: Te Yihao

Anbu: MinZao

Shinobi: FeiZha

Kunoichi: ZhaNu

Medic-nin (on the field) (unisex) -MinBao - highly trained medic nin. - Tsunade

If the medic is not Tsunade, use of chakra to execute lower level medical techniques is called Erminbao. Or SanMinBao.

Healers (an exception because they do not go on field and some of the women are allowed to learn the technique. Lol in case you haven't noticed its a male world here.) - MinWu

People with only chakra / energy no speed or knowledge of martial art or destructive usage of chakra/energy) - Baowu (unisex)

Also, Konoha will also be called HuoShensi. And like I said, if I made some mistakes don't hesitate to tell me.

.

Thank you for reviewing and giving me such lovey comments! Enjoy!

* * *

Sakura rode her horse as quickly as possible, and for a moment, felt as light and carefree as a bird. Until she heard someone's familiar voice call out to her.

"Yah! Sakura!" And Tsunade-sama appeared right in front of her, effectively causing her horse to jerk suddenly, sending Sakura of her saddle. Sakura pulled her knees into her chest, flipped backward and landed on the ground.

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama..."

"You baka!" She slicked her forehead "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Sakura bit the inside of her cheek. Now was as good a time as ever to find out if her acting skills were good enough to fool even Tsunade-sama.

She stood up straight and pulled her shoulders back.

"Healer-san. Perhaps.. Perhaps you have the wrong person?"

"Oi! Don't try faking it you bloody fool! And I heard you call me Tsunade-sama just now."

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama," she tried again, "I really do not understand what you are trying to say."

_KNOCK!_

"Itai.."

"Don't you try to fool me Sakura! Any other warrior worth his salt would have reflexively moved away from my hand! You are the only idiot I know that would train yourself to bloody stay in place! Deserving punishment my foot!"

"My-my name is not Sakura Tsunade-sama, I am-"

"Who do you think you're fooling you idiot? You could certainly fool the men Maybe go as far as fool the General who will be training you..."

Wait for it...

"But not me! How many times have I had to send my life-force after yours just to coax the stubborn thing o fill your body! I've done it at least a hundred times! From you poisoning yourself with that nasty toad to using that axe wrong and hacking off your arm!"

"You have nearly died so many times Sakura! Our chakra and life-force are bonded in such a way that cannot be hidden from either person! You just don't have the Yin seal yet, so you can't feel the full extent of it.."

"But shishou!"

"But what? So what if you can change the pattern of your chakra? And so what if you can force the directions of your life-force to swirl differently? You may be able to change your energy imprint and mix it in twitching the nature of this world, but you can never hide from me!"

"Nothing short of replacing the essence of who you can take away the bond between our life-forces!"

"Ne..."

"What?"

"Do you really think I could hide from them? I don't even know who they will be... Other than the fact that the Hatake bastard will be there..."

"Bastard?"

"Yes... Bastard.. And as much as I dislike him and his cockiness, I know that he is formidable."

"Very good Sakura.. Never underestimate an opponent.. First rule of the book."

"Wait... What book?"

She had the decency to look ashamed.

"You've been reading Icha-Icha paradise again haven't you?"

"We'll... I.. I.. Well who can blame me! All them men in the village are arrogant heads of testosterone! Now stop trying to change the subject!"

"Yes shishou."

"First off Sakura, you are not disguised well enough. To the naked eye, you may look like a boy, but to MinZao specialists like the Uchina and Hatake, your disguise could fall apart easily."

"Hold up. Uchiha?"

"Well I figured that since Hatake well known prodigy was called up, Uchiha even more well known prodigy would be called up as well."

"Ah.. One more thing. How did you know I was here?"

"Well..."

"Don't say it was the bond.. You've told me that when I suppress my energy, along with everything else, even you cannot get a read on where I am."

"Ahh, alright you got me... You see, as the first Hokage's grandkid I have connections all over the place so when I heard about the war recruits I thought your dad might get called up. And then I heard about the stunt you pulled in that crumbling courtyard, whew! If Sakura -man-hater could do that..."

"Then she was bound.." Tsunade faced her directly, " TO DO SOMETHING COMPLETELY IDIOTIC AND STUPID!"

Sakura flinched backwards. 'So loud...'

"I know you said it was loud. I'm not a crazed idiot. Unlike you!"

"So.. How did you-"

"Yes I'm getting to it... It was quite easy, you just forgot to suppress that tiny itty bitty bit of chakra in Kigechu. But I could only read it because I knew it was there. Popping some of my chakra into him didn't hurt either.."

"Oh... Oh!"

"Yeah! Ohhh!"

"So.. Other than to yell at me..."

"I came to make sure nothing was out of place."

"Eh?"

"Mmph..." Tsunade smacked her forehead... Boy was her apprentice the epitome of brainy twit... If scrolls had those words her portrait would be beside them,

"I came to make sure that anything incriminating was covered and would not be found!"

"Oh.. Okay, I get it."

"Now, first of all. Hatake Kakashi and the Uchiha have the Sharingan meaning that they would most likely be able to tell even the smallest of lies to the actual truth, so make sure to coat your words and eyes with chakra so that they will not be able to differentiate what you say."

"Next, I'm pretty sure the Hyuugas, Inuzukas and the Aburames will be there. Most annoying troublesome batch of clan kids. The Hyuuga eye will be able to see how feminine your structure is as well as differentiate a feminine chakra with a male chakra."

She really hadn't thought this out had she

"The Inuzukas can often sniff out people based on a distinctive scent of theirs. Not to mention years of living with animals have made them quite adept at sniffing out the different genders."

Oh kami-sama.. What was she.. An idiot?

**Most likely considering she is talking to herself in third person.**

Shush!

**Oh now she is... Fickle minded brat.**

You forget inner.. WHATEVER I AM SO ARE YOU!

And that got rid of her. For now at least.

"Now as for the Aburames.. They are like an insect variation of the Inuzukas. Bear in mind Sakura, your scent is so very incriminating amongst warriors like them. And you have to be very careful during your moon week."

"Tsunade-sama... I can't get caught! What will I do then?"

"I was hoping you would ask... Alright. With the problem of those scent crazies you will have to change the imprint of your smell. Much like you did for your chakra. It should not be too difficult for you. Concentrate on any male chakra you can find.. Got it? Now, instead of feeling for his chakra, feel for the liquid and glands within him. Yes it feels disgusting. But you have got it? Now, try to mould your own glands so that it would feel similar."

"Shishou.. It feels so odd.. And strange.. Ugh..."

"Well their bodies do have no small amount of testosterone within it."

"Tch.. Indeed."

"Well by moulding your own liquids and glands to feel similar to theirs, you should be able to get past them. Now.. The Hyuugas would be harder to get past. Particularly Neji. His Byakugan is of fairly high mastery and he can tell the different chakras from a male and female as well as see your skeletal structure. Now, I am sorry Sakura, because this will be painful and uncomfortable for you."

"Hmm?"

"You need to keep a constant stream of chakra at your pelvic bone and harden it so as to fool him into thinking that you have a much wider bone than you really do. It should come fairly naturally to you.. But there is one side effect..."

"Shishou..."

"We'll you'll find out the moment you put it in action.. Ah, as for when you have your period.. I have the perfect idea for you! You have sealing scrolls do you not? Yes? Good! And you know how to thicken your walls so that it would take much longer to come, but in a much smaller amount, correct? Okay good. I have developed something and Shizune finds it most useful, albeit a bit painful."

"What you do is, take some grass and separate the fibrous layers and put them together, after that, widen the cell spaces to accommodate more liquid, and finally... Ahem, coat each cell with chakra to prevent any leakage."

"And how would it work?"

"How do you think tied up oblong-shaped multiple-layered fibers in the size of a finger would work?"

"Shishou!"

"Sakura!"

"I don't want anything up there!"

"Not like you have a choice!"

"Change it every eight hours and leave it in a sealing scroll. The scent can't be traced. Ah yes... If you can, coat the blood with chakra so that there will be no scent."

"Yes Shishou.."

"Now.. About your breasts..."

"Shishou what are you going to do?"

"I'm not doing anything.. I doubt Neji can go as far as to see anything more delicate than bones."

"You doubt?"

"Well there is no Hyuuga in history who has been able to do it.. So..."

"Ah.. Alright alright... But must I keep a constant stream of chakra at my pelvic bone?"

"No.. Not really. But it would be better for you."

"Shishoul. Details!"

"Alright alright! Simply put, the side effects would just.. Get you more tingly than usual..."

"Where...? Oh no... No no no... You have got to be kidding me! I am a very sensitive individual Tsunade-sama!"

"Yes, yes... Well if you keep a constant stream there you'll get used to it. Better than to always get a very pleasurable jolt every time you send chakra there. Just make sure it blends in with the bone and you'll be fine."

"What am I? A medical wonder?"

"Well you are adept at using medical chakra for hours on end..."

"Pshh.."

"Ah, also, seal of your juice glands."

"My juice glands? What are you talking abo- oh... OH! Tsunade-sama!"

"Well it is not my fault you are so sensitive..."

"Okay.. What else?"

"Cover up any scars that you have, particularly any visible ones."

"That's quite the number if scars shishou..."

That was true. She had a few thick ones on her hand, large scrapes that never really recovered were on her legs and fatal injuries that had left their marks on her neck.

"Whatever. Just create some skin ontop of the recognizable ones. And your eyes!"

"What about my eyes?"

"They are the only green eyes in our village! Even your father as blue eyes."

"Well I am going as my own brother..."

"So what's your name?"

"I think, something closer to my name so that I would recognize it... How about... Saguro? Or Sanjiru?"

"Are you really that stupid? Choose something that says your good at fighting or well... Choose something that isn't incriminating!"

"Isn't incriminating... Um.. Something truthful... Ah! How about Seijitsu! It also goes well with Haruno.. So.."

"Emmph.. Not bad I suppose. Alright. So you are your brother.. So no need for the changing of eye color I suppose.. Thank god you have muscled arms.."

"Yes yes."

"Sigh... Sakura. Be careful. If you come back dead I'll bring you back to life just to beat the-"

"Hai Shishou." Sakura hugged her. "Don't drink so much while I'm gone okay?"

"Tch who would drink while you're gone..."

Sakura mounted her horse quickly. "I'll see you soon Shishou."

"Yeah yeah, now hurry up and go!"

* * *

Sakura felt a rush. Riding Yoru in the forest with the wind in her hair. It was an incredibly satisfying feeling. But she felt this only for a moment. It was going to get serious when she got there. She did not know what training the MinZao warriors had in store for all of them, but whatever it was, it would not be easy.

**Oi.. If you would pay attention for a moment, you would realise that IT IS ALMOST MORNING! CAN'T YOU SEE THE SUN?**

Oh crap. She was right. Damn it... How was she going to get faster.. They had at least another ten miles or so. Ah! Simple!

Sakura breathed in and let her chakra out as she exhaled, she sent it gently into her horse's system, coaxing it slowly into letting her enter.

One.

Two.

Three.

And she sent a large burst of chakra through its limbs. Forcing them to go almost ten times it's speed. What originally would have taken her about an hour to reach took her only seven minutes.

She led Yoru to the stables, petting him gently before she left to the wooden gate and fence that surrounded their pitched tents.

Here goes nothing..

She took a deep breath, and strode in with all the confidence she could muster. Wha she didn't count on was the attention she brought to herself. She carried her knapsack over one shoulder and a bamboo bottle at her waist. Her height would originally have been enough for her to stand out. Coupled with her attention grabbing strides she had made herself out to be quite the sight.

She sat down at one of empty tables.

Wooden tables.. Deceptively strong chairs and a very large pot that had the smell of rice. This was probably the eating area. There was also quite an amount of unrefined rice wine. Probably, at most.. Twenty percent of alcohol.

As soon as Sakura sat down, all the other younger men of her generation surrounded her. Among the many faces were Uchiha Sasuke's and Hyuuga Neji's.

"Hey! We've never seen you around before. Are you new?" She looked to her left o see a blonde-haired blue-eyed by talking to her. So this was Uzumaki Naruto close up. Hmm.. Rugged and tanned.. Fairly easy on the eyes.. He seemed nice enough.

Now would be a good time to see if he would be good enough for Hinata.

"First of all, I do believe you are not speaking for the others, and no I am not 'new' as you say, rather you merely have never seen me before."

"What! Are you some kind of rude asshole!?" One. Could not deal with insults.

"Yes I do believe I have an asshole. But no, I am not as rude as you are."

"Why you... You! Two. Not too good of a temper.

"Yes, you is indeed what you are saying, no need to repeat it." By now, alot of the younger men were crowded in front of her with Naruto sitting across her.

"THWACK! You bastard!" He smacked the table hard. -Scratch that.. He had a horrible temper..

"I do believe I am not a bastard. Are you, by chance, one?"

"You..." He leapt up with a bowl and threw it at her with what he perceived as 'very fast' and something that could not be dodged. Pity. She just leapt up and landed on another empty table.

"You... YOU'RE GOING TO BE SORRY! KAGEBUNSHIN NO SHENSI!" At once, over ten Narutos popped up and jumped onto Sakura, who then poofed into smoke. The real Sakura was up in a tree that hadn't been there a moment ago.

"GAAHH WHERE ARE YOU!"

"I'm here." She jumped down from the tree, "Now you ought to calm yourself. I doubt Hinata-chan would want someone so hot-tempered."

This received a raised brow from Neji. How did this boy know Hinata-sama?

"Y-you! How do you know about her.. And how would you know what she liked?"

"Well it is quite simple really.."

"Is it? Do tell us then.. But perhaps you can tell us your name first."

"Tch.. So the Hyuuga is interested eh? A good bunch you lot were. Letting my sister strip down yesterday."

"What? You are a Haruno?"

"Yes Hyuuga-san. I am the brother if the idiot that pulled that stunt yesterday. And yes Uzumaki whose mouth is opened. I do know what sort of man Hinata-chan likes."

Hold it? Hinata-chan? What was this guy playing at? And he was not a simple one to be trifled with. Considering that he had pulled a tree out of nowhere.

"Hn, dobe. You are making a fool of yourself."

"Who's the dobe you bastard! CHARGE!" At once, all the Narutos ran to Sasuke, who cleverly created a Kawamiri and appeared next to Sakura.

Sakura stiffened.. What was he doing so close to her.. This was getting harder and harder. Not tmention on the side effects of sending chakra to her pelvic bone was making her horny. Thank god she had already sealed and coated every single thing. She had spied a few Inuzukas as she walked in.

She stepped a few feet away from Sasuke, earning a questioning look from him.

"I like my personal space Uchiha."

"Hn." And he smirked.

Why that cocky no-good overtly sexy piece of meat... And why were all the men looking at her now. Too late.. Naruto had noticed that Sasuke had gone over to Sakura's side and had decided to send his clones after them.

'Geez.. And here I thought all these men who had the benefit of going to an academy would be able to fight without using a hand sign. What was this?'

Her muscle memory kicked in while Naruto's clone ran to her. Such a childish hot-tempered guy.

She leapt upwards as a Naruto clone came after her and while gravity overtook her body, she honed in on the real Naruto amongst all of the other ones, and using some air to push herself to him, landed in front of him while forcing the earth up and back.

"Oof!" He got pushed back far enough into a large red tent with a banner on it. Sakura smiled and used the earth that was still on Naruto to bind him tight, rendering him immobile.

* * *

"AAGH! Damn it you Haruno!"

And then he noticed the red interior of the tent he was in, and turned around to see his mentor, Hatake Kakashi, father, Uzumaki Minato, and one Uchiha Itachi with a blank face that radiated annoyance.

"It wasn't my fault! I swear! It's all that Haruno's fault! That puny bastard's the one who threw me in here! I swear! Seriously!"

"Naruto.. Quiet down." Minato rubbed his forehead gently.

"Who is this Haruno you talk about?"

"Oh.. Hi there Itachi.. Er.. Sorry.. Uchiha-sama.. My bad. Um.. It's this short guy with.. Um.. Well it's a short guy!"

"That is strange Minato-sama."

"Hmm? How so?"

"The Haruno man I saw yesterday was quite a statuesque man. It would be impossible for him to be called as short.."

"Perhaps he has a son then?"

"Well, I did not see him yesterday.. Perhaps we should go out and introduce ourselves while meeting our men properly?"

"Now wait a moment. Let me undo Naruto first."

"Ah.. Then the Uchiha and I will go out first alright?"

"Yes, yes this is rather hard to undo... That boy is quite good.. To be able to form a net this detailed and complicated.. Not to mention the complicated sealing methods.. To do it so quickly... Go first. I will come later.. Go.."

* * *

Hatake Kakashi was not an easily surprised man. However, the very scene before him would drop-kick surprised on its bum into the world of understatement.

There in the eating area, amongst some rubble were a swarm of Narutos. Yes he said Narutos. The clones had multiplied themselves till the point that the half-mile wide eating area was filled with them. The other men of the army either in the fight or watching from a tree that had not been there the day before.

Said tree happened to be at least three times bigger than a usual tree as well. The large amount of Narutos were currently chasing and failing to catch a rather small man who was leaping about, pulling daggers from the soup and aiming them at the clones, only to turn back into water.

What he found amazing was, the man was pulling many illusions over the Narutos while aiming the soup daggers at them, yet at the same time, he could not feel a trace of his chakra being used. When one of the clones finally managed to smack the young man, he merely turned into a flock of crows.

Wait a minute..Crows? Damn it. Had he gotten caught in an illusion.

"Sasuke.. What is the meaning of this?" Itachi's voice seemed to halt the young man from continuing his antics, and he just left Naruto in the illusion.

He walked forward with a smirk on his face.

"Hey there Hatake, Uchiha-san. Don't blame the little Uchiha for not stopping things. I popped him in a quick illusion as well. You just broke it."

"Yaa.. The Uchiha who is younger than me gets the respectful terming.. And what do I get eh boy?"

"Well.. The younger one did manage to break out of my illusion. But don't worry about it, even experienced men can act like bastards at time huh?"

*Gasp* They did not believe that this newbie, granted a very talented one, had just insulted one of the top ten in HuoShensi.

"Oh dear. Did I say bastard? I meant to say young boy. Do pardon me, honorable warrior."

"You are interesting.. Perhaps you can tell me how you developed such a good illusion.."

"As if the honorable warrior thinks I am so foolish. Why should I give away something that I might use in future?"

The Hyuuga stepped up to her and she flinched as he whispered in her ear.

"I would not advice you to make enemies so soon newbie. He is one of the top mentors in the academy and has far more experience than you think."

"Tch, there is no need to whisper when an honorable man, who would not take advantage of us, is in out presence now is there Hyuuga?"

"Have I somehow offended you boy? And I do not even know your name."

"The name's Seijitsu, and I'm brother to the girl you made strip yesterday."

"Ah.. So that is why you are angered I suppose?"

"No, no.. You have gotten it wrong. Angered no, a little bit vengeful.. Yes."

"Then why did you not come yesterday. If you had your father need not have come. I understand only the main family is in HuoShensi."

"I would have liked to, but my sister, quite the formidable woman decided that she ought to hold me down."

"Do pray tell, how she may have done that."

"For the second time, do you think me such a fool Hatake?"

"That is Hatake-sama to you."

"I'll call you as I see fit you impulsive nasty brat!"

"I am very much your senior Haruno."

"Well you acted like my junior you-"

And Minato walked out at the exact moment with a strangely quiet Naruto in tow.

"Haruno-san, I do believe that is enough."

"Ah.. If it isn't the great Minato-sama. It is my pleasure to meet you." And Sakura bent low, excited to meet him.

"I must say, you are quite adept at causing a ruckus aren't you?"

"Yes, I am quite skilled at it, I suppose."

"Well, do you mind releasing my boy? He is getting quite a fit."

"I don't mind.. But perhaps you can advice him on his temper? It is not wise to be unbridled in a time like this Namikaze-san."

"Yes you are quite right. Now, Haruno-san, now would be a time as good as any to-"

"Yes, yes. You are quite right." With a quick tugging of chakra, the earth coils around Naruto turned into dust.

Sakura was quite pleased that she was able to give the grey-haired pig a taste of his medicine. Try to strip her would he? It had been a simple technique of weaving chakra around his eyes. Unfortunately, an outsider, much like the older Uchiha would be able to help another break through it with his voice.

Now.. Onto the earth coils. What a pleasure it had been to try out a new technique. She had decided to use all of her techniques with her amazing control, and with this one, had purposely upped her level of control just to bind the weaves together. She had then performed a few mixes of seals, simple one really, she had merely braided and layed them one over the other. All the while sending her chakra into three directions whilst pulling earth and water at the same time.

Had taken her three months to perfect doing that while fighting at least three of her father's puppets.

Well back to the matter a hand. The grand-pig, she rather liked calling the Hatake that... Was busy scrutinizing her along with the very sexy but blank-looking Uchiha and a gorgeous but sadly married and somewhere around thirty something Minato.

Not to mention they were all in her personal space... How annoying!

And was that blasted younger Uchiha and Hyuuga Neji talking about her? The flunctuations in the air sure seemed like it! She breathed heavily, inadvertently sending some air up her hair, lifting the strands in her face away momentarily.

Was she going to have to put up with this?

For an indefinite amount of time?

Troublesome was certainly an understatement.

* * *

Uchiha Itachi, was for the most part, quite bewildered. However, it only showed through a very tiny and minuscule clenching of the jaw. Even the Hatake had not noticed.

He had been discussing battle strategies with the honored Namikaze Minato and the man who had lowered himself quite a bit in his eyes, Hatake Kakashi.

That's right. As much as Itachi could understand why his superior had done so, and as much as his heart had been racing to the point of stopping, he still considered it wrong to do as such to a girl.

And then the blonde-haired knuckle-hevaded boy had been pushed in among a flurry of dust and dirt. The dirt and dust had then proceeded to come alive and tie the boy together. Leading to them going out and to him finding out that the highly esteemed Minato-sama actually could not do anything. He had been trained to never assume anything but he could not help but think, that a man who could cause Minato-sama to have trouble with a technique would be a much more stately man.

In fact, he got a rather small man who was shorter than even the shortest of the group, not to mention an incredibly impulsive and stupid one.

He watched the man's every move and noticed, with some form of admiration that every single step, flinch or turn, was deliberate and calculated. What he found strange was the way the man seemed to flinch with reflex when another man came close to him.

The man had sandy red hair that covered up half his face and very full and pouty lips. How and why he had noticed this. He did not want to know.

He seemed very angered towards Hatake. And then he found out that he was in fact, the brother of one Haruno Sakura that was forever on his mind since... Oh yesterday..

It had already gotten Itachi thinking. Perhaps he could act a mite friendlier to the boy. And perhaps he could offer him some more guidance? Not that it seemed like he needed it. Even when the boy had been confronting the Hatake had he seemed afraid.

It had seemed more like a righteous sort of anger.

Righteous to a point that.. It was as if the boy had experienced it! But that was impossible for him to be Sakura in disguise.. There were no scars on both her.. _His_ hands, and he sacred like a man just fine. Walked around like one too.. But there was an air of.. He could not place a finger upon it.

The man walked and talked like he was the general here, but at the same time, he seemed so free and pleased.. Like a child walking from its crib for the first time. It was particularly strange. He had shown no humility whatsoever and had proceeded to quite happily insult his strategizer and advisor, had Minato-sama not come out he was certain the man would have used some extremely choice.. Or rather improper words..

For some reason, he acted in three ways, all at once to them. Or fouracted was hostile to Kakashi, neutral in a somewhat pleased manner when Itachi felt his eyes on his person, and somewhat respectful towards Minato-same. Happy almost.

And then he had bristled almost invisibly when he saw the Hyuuga and his younger brother's lips move while looking at the boy. He seemed as though he knew what they were saying. It would be a first for someone to have such good hearing without him detecting chakra in the person's ears.

Just as Itachi had been about to convince himself that the man was indeed, male. He puffed and the strands of hair in his eyes lifted up to show a pair of eyes so green, so perfect, he wondered how it had been hidden under the strands of brown.

The deepest shade of forest green, becoming brighter and brighter as it expanded past the pupil. With shades of Jade, Emerald and peridot amongst it. Shades of the most sunshined leaves and mint colored flecks blended in and stood out in that one eye.

He could swear, that based on the fact that her eyes had at least a hundred and fifty minuscule gold flecks, that this person was in fac Haruno Sakura. And nobody could ever replicate those eyes.

Not even if that person was her brother.

* * *

OH WOW ITACHI FOUND OUT. IS THAT LOVE OR OBSESSION THAT IM FEELING?

REVIEW YOU GUYS! Sexy shirtless Gaara is handing out cookies. If you want an Itachi then you must request. :)) I might even do a detail of a petal covered and only petal covered Tachi-kun. But no promises. Lovng the amazing reviews you all are giving me. Hahaha. I swear I'm blushing.

DO THE POLL GUYS, CAPS LOCK CUZ IM SCARED YO MIGHT MISS THIS OUT. HAHAH. SO D THE POLL ON THE BATH SCENE AND REVIEW AS WELL AND IT WILL COME QUICKER. Btw, it's not in the storyline. It will be an extra over here.

Cheers guys, :))))


	5. Ending

Okay! So I realized that it seems as though it is too quick for Itachi to realize it is Sakura and all but relax everybody. Relax. And keep telling me who you want the bath scene to be. :D

I'm starting a poll on the extra Saku-Ita/Neji/Sasu bath scene. :D

Itachi :3

Sasuke: 1

Neji: 1

Naruto: 1

All of them: 1 -and oops! Do I hear a Gaara?

.

.

Notes:

Genin: Sanhao

Chuunin:Erhao

Jounin:Yihao

Special Jounin: Te Yihao

Anbu: MinZao

Shinobi: FeiZha

Kunoichi: ZhaNu

Medic-nin (on the field) (unisex) -MinBao - highly trained medic nin. - Tsunade

If the medic is not Tsunade, use of chakra to execute lower level medical techniques is called Erminbao. Or SanMinBao.

Healers (an exception because they do not go on field and some of the women are allowed to learn the technique. Lol in case you haven't noticed its a male world here.) - MinWu

People with only chakra / energy no speed or knowledge of martial art or destructive usage of chakra/energy) - Baowu (unisex)

Also, Konoha will also be called HuoShensi. And like I said, if I made some mistakes don't hesitate to tell me.

.

Thank you for reviewing and giving me such fabulous comments.

* * *

The men in the camp grumbled as they put the wooden chairs and tables back together. That new kid had some spunk. Getting the Uzumaki all fired up and causing a ruckus. Not to mention the very 'brave' lad had gone ahead to be one of the most stupid men in history.

Had he been an enemy warrior... One can only think of what the Legendary Hatake would have done.

A few of them found the new Seijitsu brave.. But others had begun to resent him. Who was this boy to disrupt their peace? Who was this boy to challenge and mix their already perfected groups. They had never even seen him before.

And now while they were busy picking up after the mess.. The blasted boy was sitting up in the tree, happily munching on a senbon with the two other clan kids.

Not to mention they already had a snobby clan prodigy.. They had to get the older Uchiha for a general? The man had hardly as much experience as Hatake Kakashi.

That Uchiha was inexperienced and not to mention a complete and utter anti-social. He had about just as much social skill as a rock. Chances were, all of that amazing talk of him was just that. Talk.

Feelings of resentment arose from the group. Mutterings and voices of displeasure were muted, but any trained warrior worth his salt would have heard them.

* * *

Itachi sat quietly in the tent, lending only an ear to what the esteemed Namikaze-sama spoke of with Hatake Kakashi.

The grey-haired man seemed rather amused with the anger the warrior had shown him and Minato-sama head been fairly impressed. Men like that do not come easily, but apparently.. Neither do men who dislike Kakashi.

As Itachi went deeper into thought, he only paid attention to his surroundings, keeping his senses open, but his mind occupied.

This, so-called brother of Haruno Sakura. He had a fitting name. Seijitsu matched him quite well. Itachi was very certain that the man was not.. Well, a man. But was in fact Sakura herself, this assumption made with the thought of her green eyes. He had only made eye contact with her once, but it had been enough for him to notice all it's different shades.

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed unlikely. The Sakura he had seen on both occasions had seemed a very ladylike and graceful woman, the second occasion not too demure but still feminine. But now, he had noticed the way the man walked and there had been no grace that every woman had. The man walked with a deliberate movement that only a man sure of himself could walk with.

Women walked with tiny strides, even those who had been partially trained walked with graceful little steps. While both man and woman walked with their shoulders back, women had a more submissive way of holding themselves. This man walked like he was the emperor of Huo himself.

Another was, while Haruno Sakura had no chakra at all.. None of which had been separated from her life-force, this man had an abundance of chakra though it was significantly less than a Hyuuga or an Uchiha. And it appeared that he could control it very well, if the technique he had used earlier was any indication of it. But at the same time, Itachi could feel he had merely masked his chakra.

If this Seijitsu was truly Sakura, how had she hidden her chakra so well? Once chara had been separated from ones life-force.. To cover it up with your own life-force was hard. To harness natural energy to hide it was by far tougher.. And both would be needed to fully cover up ones chakra. To make it seem as though there truly was no chakra there.

Itachi was adept at this as was Tsunade-sama, Minato-sama and Sarutobi-sama.. But few had such good control over their chakra.. One needed training.. How would Sakura have had such training?

Seijitsu.. Or Sakura... Their hair was... Different. There was no way the hair was false.. It had strands that flew as he.. She had moved, and he seen, right to the very roots, it was a rich reddish brown. The man did not even have the scars on the hands that he still was not sure Sakura had. Another thing he noticed was... Well... The man was completely flat.. No... No nothing of anything on his chest.. Granted he had not noticed Sakura's.. Ahem.. Chest.. But it had had a slight rising.. This man.. This man was flat.

A pity he did not have the byakugan.. But while he could detect different chakra's with his Sharingan, and the genders of chakra... This... This was very male. This man... Yes Itachi was convincing himself that he had not noticed the gold flecks or jade shades... That this person was most definitely male and in no way female.

But he had flinched when the Hyuuga had come close to him. All the females he had noticed did not flinch from men though... So this was more of a wild guess...

He sighed.. Perhaps he had not noticed the eyes so well then? Perhaps it had merely been the sun? After all.. What female was so stupid as to come to a war camp that was chock full of men?

* * *

Sakura munched on her senbon thoughtfully. There were a few things that she needed to do and one of them happened to be the two men beside her...

It was rather amusing watching the men from below glare up at her. So what? This was her tree... Not like it had been here before she came along.. Just because the branches were so high that only the Hyuuga and Uchiha followed her here wasn't her problem.

Speaking of which.. She really had to get away from those two. They were the most arrogant men she had ever had the pleasure of seeing. Sure, they were particularly pleasing on her eyes... And she hadn't really meant that she would do anything with them.. Her father would definitely disown her if she really did anything.

But he had never said she was not allowed to shamelessly stare. So if these men liked to scrutinize her and make her flinch and talk about her when she was with Hinata then she could very well do what she liked. That included doing things her mother would blush at.

Of course, Sakura was going to stay pure till marriage. Didn't matter what she did or who she happened to kiss.. Not that she had.. But she would really had not found someone to like... Except the elder Uchiha. He was one very gorgeous man.. And while she would quite happily stare.. It wasn't as though he was just a piece of meat to her.. He was more like.. Rice she would savor and enjoy slowly..

But as to whether he would mind marrying her was a completely different matter. It wasn't like she couldn't take his attention though right?

Sakura was getting more and more confused, on one hand, this was the only man she would ever consider... On the other hand.. She really did not want to get married. But it wasn't like she could do much for fun, being a girl and all... Though she was allowed to go to festivals.. And if she happened to have someone to go with her.. Be it someone she had been Matchmade with or someone she was just checking out due to matchmaking-check-if-their-compatible problems...

Damn it. He was the only man whose amazing imagined physique followed her home to her dreams.. The least she had seen him in was everything he always wore. It was so unfair! It's not like she could sneak up on him and dump water on him. He was wearing black for kami-sama's sake..

This was so unlike her. And it had only been one day. The Hyuuga boy, okay, Neji, was sitting with the bratty Uchiha Sasuke on a branch below her. Somehow interacting with a form of rivalry and eye twitchs with the accompanying 'hn', 'aa' and 'tch'.

"Haruno-san.." Neji leaped up to beside her, Sasuke following.

"Damn it." She flinched back and pushed them to the side with her chakra. "Haven't you people heard of personal space?"

"Hn." _Of course I have but im the bloodlined guy so shut up_.

"Tch"_ And I'm an Uchiha, I don't have to listen to you._

_O_f course they hadn't actually said that. Sakura had just interpreted it in such a form.

_"_Okay okay.. What do you people want.."

Neji raised his brow, "Perhaps you should learn to be more respectful."

Sasuke was being Sasuke and was just sitting there listening carefully.

Sakura turned to him and ignored Neji.

"Say.. Aren't you best friends with the Uzumaki guy?"

"We are not friends..."

"Haruno-san, I was-"

"Stop being a self-righteous guy and stay out of my personal space!"

He sat back with a disgruntled 'Hn.'

"Now, Uchiha, you don't expect me to believe a load of bullshit like that right?"

A smirk.

"Oh so you do.. Well I don't. Now wipe that smirk of your face!"

The smirk widened.

"So annoying... You men are so bloody annoying!"

"You say it like you are a girl."

"Well how often do you think my sister complains about you two staring at her and your annoying words of pathetic, pathetic and more pathetic!"

"We-we do not.."

"So the Hyuuga stammers. Yeah I believe you.. A whole lot." She felt good. Really good. How long had it been since she could freely express herself in such a manner?

"Hyuuga, clarify it, I am most certainly not good friends with the dobe."

"Oh yes indeed Uchiha. That's why you refer to him with such a lovable nickname."

He had the decency to look slightly abashed.

"Now would you people quit following me? So annoying!" And she jumped all the way to the top of the tree and created a chakra barrier.

The two clan boys merely looked annoyed and sat back down. They looked even more annoyed when an Inuzuka and Naruto joined them.

She tuned out their yammering and concentrated on the way Itachi had been scrutinizing her. It simply would not do to be found out. And he was the most perceptive man here.. Other than Minato-sama of course, but the guy was leaving..

Oh she should have changed the color of her eyes, it wasn't like she couldn't change it now.. But wouldn't they notice?

_You are such a dimwit! How did I ever end up getting stuck with you!?_

And you say that because?

_Just switch the shades a little bit! Duhhhh! Why are you such an idiot! Even Tsunade-sama sa- mmmphh!_

Now shut up and well.. shut up!

Sakura tied her up and muffled her with a metal ball. That should keep her silent.. Now.. She hated to admit it but she was right... She could always just dirty the shades a little.

She inhaled and placed her fingertips at her temple. Her chakra seeked out the veins and pathways within her jade orbs.

_Hnnhg... this is hard damn it. Okay okay... I can feel the slightly tingly sensation..._

She fused the darkest tones and hues of her pupils together and evened out the yellow and green flecks. Her eyes should look a little more bland now.

Did she act out her part as a boy properly? It got her thinking about whether they would be able to see her as a female.. what with her nonsensical etiquette training her mother had forced on her since she had been able to walk and talk. Then again, her father had often told her that had she been born male... no general could keep his position from her.

But in a way it was good that she had been born a female because she had strived much harder than she probably would have as a boy... pushing her limits farther than expectedly possible and the self-confident assurance that came with it was palpable. It was just as a female she had to temper herself down a little.

She spotted an annoying familiar shape of gravity-defying grey hair and grumbled inwardly. That pompous ex-general should really let the proper general do his job. What was this? Do-the-guy's-job-for-him-camp?

He clapped his hands twice and apparently, that meant they were supposed to gather in front of him. Bother. But she could not risk getting kicked off this army training. For the sake of her father, she had no choice.

Sakura leaped down and settled quietly beside Hyuuga Neji, preparing herself for an annoying announcement.

* * *

Hey GUYS! Im sad to say that Im going to discontinue this fic. If anyone wants to adopt this go right ahead.


	6. Notice

Hi guys. So I know you all are probably expecting another chapter but yea.. I've discontinued this fic for a few reasons ahah.

My studies and work have been piling up and I kinda lost the momentum and a mega writers block surfaced. On top of that I lost the plot.

im so glad that so many of you liked this fic. JasmineDragon22 has adopted this so if you still want to read it go ahead to her profile. Though she might not have started yet. ;3


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